This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-22551126
The article has changed 4 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
Version 1 | Version 2 |
---|---|
Paris nursery school shooting: Man kills himself | Paris nursery school shooting: Man kills himself |
(about 1 hour later) | |
A man in his 60s has shot himself in front of a dozen children at a nursery school close to the Eiffel Tower in Paris, French officials say. | |
He is said to have entered the school in the 7th arrondissement with a sawn-off shotgun. | |
The man then turned the weapon on himself and pulled the trigger in front of the children and an adult, Le Parisien newspaper reports. | The man then turned the weapon on himself and pulled the trigger in front of the children and an adult, Le Parisien newspaper reports. |
Police have opened an investigation into the incident. | Police have opened an investigation into the incident. |
No information has so far been released about the man's identity or motives. | |
French Education Minister Vincent Peillon cut short a trip to Brussels to visit the school on Thursday afternoon. | |
The nursery, said to be a private Catholic school, is located in the rue Cler, a famous market street close to the Eiffel Tower. The area has been cordoned off. | |
'It was horrible' | |
The incident took place shortly before noon on Thursday as children were leaving the school premises for the lunch break, police officials said. | |
Witnesses told local media the man entered the school "without difficulty". | |
A dozen children witnessed the shooting, the office of Paris Mayor Bertrand Delanoe said in a statement. | A dozen children witnessed the shooting, the office of Paris Mayor Bertrand Delanoe said in a statement. |
One of the children told French broadcaster Europe 1 she heard a gunshot and "saw all the blood". | |
"I saw the man fall backwards when he killed himself," she said, adding "It was horrible." | |
A boy who also witnessed the incident, said he was "very frightened". | |
"I thought there were terrorists who had guns and were coming into the school. Then I saw the man on the ground with a lot of blood." | |
Authorities are establishing a psychological trauma unit to provide support to children and school staff, local media report. | Authorities are establishing a psychological trauma unit to provide support to children and school staff, local media report. |
Resident Matthew Fraser, who lives near the school, described the area as an upmarket area of Paris that is home to many foreign embassies. | |
"It's a safe, quiet, upper-class area," he told the BBC. "No-one would expect this sort of thing to happen here." |