France school shooting
A 16-year-old pupil was arrested with a cache of weapons after a shooting in a high school in Grasse, southern France, on Thursday that left four people slightly injured, investigators say. This is what we know about the incident, which comes with France on high alert ahead of the first round of a presidential election on April 23, and after a string of terror attacks:
Who was the attacker?
The suspect is a 16-year-old pupil at the Alexis de Tocqueville high school in the southern town of Grasse. His name has not been disclosed as he is a minor. He was armed with a rifle and two handguns, as well as two grenades which may have been dummies, investigators say. Police also found a home-made explosive device in his rucksack, which was made safe at the scene, they say. His head teacher is being hailed as a hero for intervening as the student pulled out his guns, preventing a worse toll.
Was this a terror attack?
Investigators said there were no indications of a terror-related attack. They described an individual who had problematic relationships with fellow students as well as an obsession with guns. He had shared pictures and videos on social media of infamous US school shootings, including the 1999 massacre in Littleton, Colorado, in which two teens killed 13 people before committing suicide.
Who was hurt?
Three pupils and the head teacher suffered minor gunshot wounds, and another six students were treated for shock or injuries sustained during a stampede, according to an updated toll. There was panic as some pupils fled to a local supermarket and rumors spread quickly of an attack.
What was the response?
US-style school shootings are almost unheard-of in France, which has low levels of gun violence. But the country remains at its highest level of vigilance following a string of jihadist attacks since January 2015 that killed around 230 people. Initiating a rapid-response plan, the authorities placed the other schools in Grasse on lockdown, triggered a smartphone application to warn people to stay away and elite forces moved in to secure the area. “The measures put in place by the government... in particular, training exercises for attacks on schools, have demonstrated their usefulness and effectiveness,” Prime Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said in a statement later. More than 3,000 reservists were called up to help keep watch outside the country’s 64,000 primary and secondary schools when pupils returned from their summer holidays last September. — AFP