France: 14-Year-Old Student Shoots Principal, Teacher With Shotgun Inside School
A 14-year-old student has been arrested after allegedly shooting and injuring his school principal and a teacher with a shotgun at Joseph Lakanal Middle School in Aubagne, east of Marseille, France.
The incident occurred on Monday when the teenager reportedly brought the weapon to school concealed in a guitar case.
According to the police, the 53-year-old principal sustained gunshot wounds to the leg and lower back, while a 37-year-old teacher was shot in the thigh. A third person also sustained minor injuries.
The teenager was eventually disarmed by a school staff member who intercepted him in a stairwell while he was moving between two floors of the building. He was subsequently taken into police custody.
Aubagne Mayor, Jean-Pierre Squillari, confirmed the incident in a Facebook post, assuring the public that all students were safe and that no child was injured.
He said teachers and other members of the school’s educational team immediately secured the students during the attack.
The mayor added that the principal and the teacher were rushed to the hospital by emergency responders. Their conditions were reported to be non-critical.
He also announced that an emergency medical and psychological support unit had been activated to assist students, teachers and other members of the school community affected by the incident.
Marseille prosecutor Nicolas Bessone said the suspect allegedly fired once or twice on the first floor, injuring the principal and the teacher, before moving to the second floor, where he fired two more shots.
According to the prosecutor, one of the shots was directed at the floor in front of a teacher, while the other was fired inside a classroom.
He praised the staff member who disarmed the teenager, describing the intervention as an act of extreme courage.
Marseille Deputy Prosecutor Audrey Jouaneton said the victims were struck by pellets from a 12-gauge shotgun. She added that investigators had yet to establish the teenager’s motive.
“We still don’t have sufficiently precise evidence to say that he wanted to target the teaching staff, this principal and the teacher, but they were in any case hit by the shots,” she said.
The Marseille prosecutor’s office has launched an investigation into attempted murder.
Meanwhile, Education Minister Édouard Geffray condemned the incident as “unacceptable,” warning that it reflected the growing problem of violence in society.
The shooting occurred amid protests by high school students calling for better-resourced schools.
