A 14-year-old pupil has been arrested after shooting and injuring a headteacher and a teacher with a hunting rifle at a school in Aubagne, near Marseille, on Monday. Neither suffered life-threatening injuries, officials said.
The teenager allegedly entered Joseph Lakanal middle school carrying a hunting rifle concealed in a guitar case and fired several shots before being disarmed by a member of staff, according to local officials.
The Marseille prosecutor’s office has opened an attempted murder investigation.
The 53-year-old headteacher was reportedly shot in the leg and lower back, while the 37-year-old teacher suffered a gunshot wound to the thigh. Both were taken to hospital.
A third person reportedly sustained minor injuries, although officials said no pupils were seriously hurt.
Marseille prosecutor Nicolas Bessone said the teenager shot the headteacher and teacher on the first floor before moving upstairs, where he fired twice more - once at the floor in front of another teacher and then into a classroom, striking the blackboard.
No one in the classroom was injured, but pupils and their teacher were left badly shaken, Bessone said.
A school supervisor managed to disarm the teenager before police arrived and arrested him. Authorities have yet to establish a motive.
Pupils described chaotic scenes as gunshots rang out and classes rushed to evacuate.
One pupil told Reuters that a teacher initially mistook the first gunshot for noise from nearby construction work. A second shot triggered an alarm, sending pupils into the corridors.
“We were panicking, we ran,” the student said.
Other pupils told French broadcaster BFMTV they came face to face with the armed teenager as they tried to escape. One said the boy fired at the ground as students fled.
Aubagne Mayor Jean-Pierre Squillari said pupils were brought to safety within seconds, while a psychological support unit was set up to help those affected.
French President Emmanuel Macron expressed solidarity with the victims, pupils and parents, praising school staff for their swift response.
“I salute the composure and exemplary response of the educational team, which made it possible to avoid the worst,” Macron wrote on X.
Education Minister Édouard Geffray described the shooting as an “unacceptable act”, warning of rising violence in society.
He was expected to visit the school with Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez.
The attack comes against a backdrop of protests at French high schools over staff shortages and inadequate funding, some of which have turned violent.
However, police union representative Eddy Sid said there was no apparent link between the demonstrations and the shooting. Local reports also indicated that Joseph Lakanal middle school had not been blockaded.
Far-right leader Marine Le Pen accused the government of losing control of school security.
The attempted murder investigation remains ongoing, with the teenager's motive still unclear.
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