TOULOUSE, France, June 11 (UPI) -- The father of al-Qaida-inspired French gunman Mohammed Merah is suing over his son's death in a shootout with police, a lawyer said.
Lawyer Isabelle Coutant-Peyre said the lawsuit was filed in a Paris court, Radio France Internationale reported Monday.
Coutant-Peyre said Mohamed Benalel Merah indicated in March, shortly after his son's death, that he wanted to sue the police unit involved in the shootout
"This is a suit against unnamed persons for murder with aggravating circumstances concerning those who gave the orders at the top of the police," Coutant-Peyre said.
Merah killed a rabbi, his two children and another schoolgirl outside of a Jewish school March 19 and three paratroopers of North African descent the week before.
Merah allegedly admitted to the shootings during the two-day standoff with police before he was killed in an exchange of gunfire.
"You have 300-400 heavily armed people and a man all alone trapped in his apartment," Coutant-Peyre said. "That alone is enough to start asking questions."
During on-and-off negotiations, police said he told them he was trained by al-Qaida and killed his victims over the treatment of Palestinians, among other things, The New York Times reported.
