A 15-year-old boy killed a fellow pupil and injured three others in a stabbing attack at a high school in the western French city of Nantes on Thursday, before he was overpowered by teachers, police said.
BFM TV reported that the student who died was a girl and that the three wounded students were boys. Police did not confirm the age or gender of the victims.
Teaching staff subdued the attacker at the Notre-Dame-de-Toutes-Aides, a private Catholic school, before police arrived, a police spokesperson said.
She said there was nothing to indicate a terrorist motive.
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The suspect had earlier sent an email with unspecified grievances to all students just before the attack, pupils at the school told French media at the scene.
One of the injured pupils was in a “very serious condition″ in hospital, Nantes Mayor Johanna Rolland told reporters. She did not give details about the suspect, but raised concerns about ″the mental health of the youth of this country″.
Interior minister Bruno Retailleau said the attack was ″probably″ an isolated act, without providing details about the investigation.
The school confined the students inside for hours while police secured the site and carried out questioning, French broadcast reports said. Police and armed military forces surrounded the area, and worried parents waited outside the perimeter.
French president Emmanuel Macron praised the courage of the teachers who intervened, saying in a post on X that they ″undoubtedly prevented other dramas″.
An official at the school, which is part of a complex housing a primary and middle school, would not comment on what happened, saying the school was concentrating on caring for the students who were on campus at the time.
Education minister Elisabeth Borne said: “A terrible drama happened at midday today, and my thoughts go first to the teenage girl who lost her life, and to the three wounded students.” The teachers “are in shock, and at the same time, very mobilised to return to class”.
Students were allowed to leave school in the midafternoon under police protection. Dozens of parents waited outside.
“We’re waiting to be able to hold them in our arms ... to help them deal with the stress this will have caused,” said one parent, Nicolas.
Police did not name the suspect or give any motives for the attack.
Local newspaper Ouest France said the attacker was dressed all in black, and wore a helmet and balaclava. Two knives were found lying next to his belongings, it said.
BFM and other media reported that the suspected attacker, using his email account, had emailed a document to all students in the school in which he painted a bleak picture of society, but had not made any mention of a possible attack.
French broadcaster Franceinfo said the stabbing followed a conflict among students.
Police did not immediately confirm the media reports. - Reuters and Associated Press
