14-Year-Old Pupil Arrested After Principal and Teacher Shot at French School

A 14-year-old student armed with a 12-gauge shotgun opened fire inside a school in Aubagne near Marseille on Monday morning, wounding both the principal and a teacher before being immediately detained by authorities.

The suspect entered Collège Joseph-Lakanal—also referred to as Lakanal middle school—carrying the hunting weapon hidden in a guitar case, according to police sources cited by the Daily Star. The ninth-grade pupil first entered a classroom and fired a shot that missed his target, striking the blackboard, before walking into the principal’s office, where further gunfire wounded the 53-year-old headmaster and a 37-year-old female teacher by ricochet, according to reporting from the Daily Star.

The school’s headteacher sustained a gunshot wound to the lower body, while the teacher was hit in the thigh. Government officials and local authorities confirmed that neither staff member suffered life-threatening injuries, and no children were harmed during the incident.

Police Detain Suspect as Teachers Secure Students

Law enforcement and emergency services converged on the southern French school immediately following the attack. Aubagne Mayor Jean-Pierre Squillari stated on social media that the suspect was neutralised and taken into custody instantly by law enforcement personnel.

Thanks to the calmness and remarkable reflexes of the teachers and the entire educational team, all students were immediately confined and placed in safety from the very first second, Mayor Squillari said, as reported by The Independent. He added that an emergency medical-psychological cell was activated to assist students coping with the immense psychological impact of the shooting.

The Bouches-du-Rhône prefecture and police sources confirmed to Le Parisien and BFMTV that the shooting had no connection to ongoing nationwide student protests and high school blockades. Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu directed Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez and National Education Minister Édouard Geffray to travel to the scene on Monday afternoon.

Minister Geffray addressed the attack on social media, writing that two staff members from the National Education system fell victim to gunshot wounds while a student perpetrated the assault. Investigators from the Marseille prosecutor’s office have opened an attempted murder investigation to determine the exact motive and circumstances behind the shooting.

More on this story: France High School Protests Turn Violent as Schools Burn and Headteacher Attacked · France Student Protests: Government Unveils Action Plan Amid School Unrest