French Prime Minister François Beyloux called for crackdown on teenage knife crime after a high school student stabbed four other children at school, killed at least one, and injured others before being arrested.
The 15-year-old reportedly attacked fellow students with a knife at Private Notre Dame de Touzes-Aides Middle School in Nantes, the Atlantic Coast during lunch break Thursday. The attack took place at 12:30pm (11:30am BST) before the teacher overwhelmed the boy. One female student was killed. At least one other student is in critical condition in the hospital.
“This tragedy again illustrates the endemic violence that exists in some of our youth,” Bayrou said in a statement. “The basic questions must be asked in terms of education, values and respect for human life.”
He ordered checks within and around schools to be strengthened immediately. He also said the committee will consider ways to deal with teenage knife crime in terms of weapon sales and knife ownership and transport. Research best practices in other countries around the world.
French President Emmanuel Macron praises the “courage” of the teachers who intervened, saying the nation shares the shock and sadness of the school.
Police sources told French information that the boy first targeted a student on the second floor of the school, then attacked three other people who came down the stairs. He went to two classrooms, sources said. French information also reported that the boy was carrying two knives.
The juvenile was in police custody and had been subject to psychiatric evaluations, reported France Television.
Minister of Education Elisabeth Bourne and Minister of Home Affairs Bruno Rechiro traveled to the school to show “solidarity between the victims and the school community.”
Images from the scene showed police and troops surrounding the school when the investigation began.
School staff, part of the complex housing in elementary and middle schools, will not comment on what happened. They said the school was focused on caring for students who were on campus at the time.
School administrators sent messages to the families of around 2,000 students attending school to inform them of the incident. The students were quickly trapped inside the school.
