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Teacher Dead After Stabbing at French School Teacher Dead After Stabbing at French School
(about 2 hours later)
A man armed with a knife killed a teacher and injured several other people at a school in northern France on Friday, according to officials, who were treating the episode as a terrorist attack.A man armed with a knife killed a teacher and injured several other people at a school in northern France on Friday, according to officials, who were treating the episode as a terrorist attack.
The stabbing took place at a public high school in Arras, a town of about 42,000 that is roughly 25 miles southwest of Lille, near the Belgian border. President Emmanuel Macron’s office said he was heading to the scene, and lawmakers in the lower house of Parliament suspended their work in solidarity with the victims. The stabbing took place at Gambetta High School in Arras, a town of about 42,000 that is roughly 25 miles southwest of Lille, near the Belgian border. President Emmanuel Macron arrived at the scene on Friday afternoon.
Gérald Darmanin, the French interior minister, said that a suspect had been arrested and was in police custody. Gérald Darmanin, the French interior minister, said that a suspect had been arrested. France’s national antiterrorism prosecutor’s office said in a statement that it had opened an investigation, but it declined to provide details about the suspect or his motivations.
France’s national antiterrorism prosecutor’s office said in a statement that it had opened an investigation, but it did not provide details about the suspect or his motivations.
French officials did not immediately identify the victims or provide details about how the attack unfolded.
While attacks on schools are rare in France, this stabbing struck a raw nerve in the country. It occurred almost three years to the day after Samuel Paty, a 47-year-old history teacher who showed caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad in class to illustrate free speech, was beheaded by an Islamist fanatic.While attacks on schools are rare in France, this stabbing struck a raw nerve in the country. It occurred almost three years to the day after Samuel Paty, a 47-year-old history teacher who showed caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad in class to illustrate free speech, was beheaded by an Islamist fanatic.
More recently, a Spanish language teacher at a high school in the southwest of the country was stabbed and killed by a 16-year-old student, although terrorism was ruled out in that case. Police quickly set up a security perimeter around the school.
“It’s terrible to think that, three years later, teachers are still being murdered in their workplace,” Sophie Vénétitay, the head of one of the largest teacher unions in France, told France Inter radio.
More recently, a Spanish-language teacher at a high school in southwestern France was stabbed and killed by a 16-year-old student, although terrorism was ruled out in that case.
In a telephone interview, Julie Duhamel, a local representative for the SE-Unsa teacher union, said that the attacker was a former student at the school who graduated two or three years ago. During his time at the school, employees had expressed concern to their superiors that he had become radicalized, she said, although she did not know what had prompted their concern.
Martin Doussau, a philosophy teacher at the school in Arras, told the BFMTV news channel that he tried to intervene when he saw the assailant attack a cafeteria employee and then was chased by the assailant who repeatedly asked him if he was a history teacher.
“Samuel Paty’s name immediately came to mind,” Mr. Doussau said, describing the assailant as “fairly strong, fairly athletic,” in his early 20s, and armed with two knives.
Mr. Doussau said he barricaded himself behind a door until the police arrived. He said the officers arrested the attacker without firing any shots.
France was struck by large-scale Islamist terrorist attacks in 2015 and 2016, followed by a string of smaller but still deadly shootings and stabbings in subsequent years, often carried out by lone assailants.France was struck by large-scale Islamist terrorist attacks in 2015 and 2016, followed by a string of smaller but still deadly shootings and stabbings in subsequent years, often carried out by lone assailants.
The country remains on high alert, and the authorities have said that the police and intelligence services regularly foil plots. Mr. Darmanin told the newspaper Ouest-France last month that the authorities had thwarted 42 terrorist attacks since 2017.The country remains on high alert, and the authorities have said that the police and intelligence services regularly foil plots. Mr. Darmanin told the newspaper Ouest-France last month that the authorities had thwarted 42 terrorist attacks since 2017.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates. French politicians reacted swiftly to the attack in Arras. Lawmakers in the lower house of Parliament suspended their work in solidarity with the victims and then held a minute of silence.
“Once again, our teachers are attacked because they are symbols of our Republic,” Éric Ciotti, the head of the right-wing Republican Party, said on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.
Olivier Faure, the head of the Socialist Party, expressed “shock at the murder of another teacher, just a few days before the anniversary of Samuel Paty’s death.”
“We’re not done with terrorism yet,” Mr. Faure said on X.
Catherine Porter contributed reporting.