A 14-year-old student has stabbed a teaching assistant to death during a bag search in a French school. The 31-year-old teaching assistant died after being attacked with a knife during a bag search outside of the Francoise Dolto secondary school in Nogent.
A pupil has been arrested and taken into custody. The routine bag check which had been set up by police in front of the school. A spokesperson for the Haute-Marne prefecture told BFMTV: “The attacker was neutralized by the police officers present at the scene.”
An officer sustained knife injuries to his hand during the arrest of the suspect and needed medical treatment.
The motives for the horrific attack have not yet been established.
The school—which has 324 pupils—was placed on lockdown as police officers sought to secure the premises.
France’s Education Minister Elisabeth Borne expressed her support for the victim and her family, saying she would visit the scene of the tragedy in due course.
In a statement posted on X, she said: “I salute the composure and commitment of those who acted to restrain the attacker and protect the students and staff.
“I am going to the scene in support of the entire school community and law enforcement.”
Authorities introduced random bag searches in March, in an attempt to control growing violence in schools.
They were implemented after a series of school attacks, including the death of a 17-year-old high school student in Essonne.
According to the Ministry of National Education in France, 94 bladed weapons have been seized from 958 school bag checks.
Emmanuel Macron shared his shock at the attack on social media, writing that “while watching over our children in Nogent, a teaching assistant lost her life.”
The French President denounced what he called a “senseless wave of violence”, adding: “We all stand with her family, her loved ones, her colleagues and the entire educational community.”
The rectorate said that there had been “no particular difficulties” at the school until now.
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