Teen attacks teacher, stabs self in new French school violence

A 14-year-old pupil in eastern France on Monday stabbed his music teacher in her face in a classroom before then turning his knife on himself to inflict life-threatening injuries, a prosecutor said.

The teen’s life was in danger after he stabbed himself in the neck but the wounds sustained by the 66-year-old teacher were not life-threatening, the regional prosecutor said after the incident in Benfeld, a town near Strasbourg in the east of France.

“He is currently sedated for at least 48 hours and his life is in danger,” said regional Strasbourg prosecutor Clarisse Taron.

As police arrived at the scene to arrest the teenager, he stabbed himself several times, and was taken to the Strasbourg hospital by helicopter after suffering cardio-respiratory arrest.

The suspect’s motive remains unclear, the local gendarmerie said. Education Minister Elisabeth Borne said she was immediately heading to the scene.

An education authority spokesman told AFP that the pupil’s school results had been weak and that the school’s educational team had been mobilised to help.

The mayor of the town of 6,000 people, Jacky Wolfarth, called the incident “isolated”.

Jean-Remi Girard, president of the SNALC teachers union, said “we know that pupils can sometimes go crazy”, adding that lockdowns during the Covid crisis had “affected our pupils’ mental health”.

But there was no “miracle solution”, he said, adding that “We’re not going to equip our schools with metal detector gates.”

There has been a spate of violent incidents at French schools in recent months, prompting bag checks on entry in some establishments.

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