A pupil has been arrested after a principal and teacher were shot at a school in southern France on Monday morning.
The 14-year-old entered Lakanal middle school in Aubagne, a small city 11 miles east of Marseille, “with a shotgun inside a guitar case” . He then opened fire before being restrained by a member of staff, regional officials told French media.
No children were harmed and the teachers have been treated for injuries which are not life-threatening, according to Aubagne Mayor Jean-Pierre Squillari, who said the suspect was a pupil in the ninth grade.
The Marseille prosecutor’s office has since opened an investigation for attempted murder, it said in a statement.
Local media reported that the incident was not thought to be related to ongoing protests over school conditions, citing sources familiar with the investigation.
The pupil entered school grounds with a gun before several shots were heard, Bouches-du-Rhône departmental council president Martine Vassal told reporters.
The head teacher, 53, was reportedly shot in the leg and lower back, while the 37-year-old teacher’s thigh was hit. A third person is said to have sustained minor injuries.
Marseille prosecutor Nicolas Bessone said the 14-year-old injured the head and the other teacher on the first floor.
He then went to the second floor and fired twice, “first in front of a teacher towards the floor, and a second time inside an occupied classroom, hitting the chalkboard”, Bessone said.
“Neither [that] teacher nor the students were injured, though they were severely shaken.”
The boy was restrained by a member of staff in a school corridor, according to the city hall, and taken into police custody.
“All students were immediately confined and made safe within seconds,” Squillari, speaking in his role as city mayor, said in an update on social media. A psychological support unit was set up on site to provide emergency support.
Squillari also spoke to reporters and said: “The kids saw practically nothing since it happened in the hallway.
“Psychologically, quite a few were affected, and those in a distressed state are being examined by the psychologist”.
He said the suspect was a child “just like any other”.
“The father had requested a meeting with the school’s educational advisor, but we don’t know any more than that,” he told broadcaster BFMTV.
Two pupils told BFMTV there was a fire alarm and when they went outside to take the stairs they were told not to go down but they then came face-to-face with the alleged shooter.
On of them explained: “He was a metre away, with his hunting rifle. He fired at the ground.”
“We started to run away, but he followed us for a while. We started screaming.”
French President Emmanuel Macron posted on X that he extended his “full solidarity and total support” to the teachers, students and parents in shock.
“I salute the composure and exemplary response of the educational team, which made it possible to avoid the worst.”
Education Minister Édouard Geffray is due to visit the scene in southern France with Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez..
“Two staff members from the National Education system, a principal and a teacher, were victims this morning of gunshot wounds at Lakanal middle school in Aubagne,” Geffray wrote on social media. “A student is said to be the perpetrator.”
He added: “This unacceptable act is yet further evidence of the rise of unchecked violence in our society, against which we must all take a stand.”
