A 14-year-old has been arrested after a music teacher was allegedly stabbed in the face by a student during class in a middle school in northeastern France.
French media reports the teacher was taken to hospital on Wednesday.
Local news outlet Dernieres Nouvelles d’Alsace reported the suspect was arrested soon after the attack, after allegedly initially fleeing the scene.
The suspect reportedly stabbed himself during his arrest and has also been taken to an area hospital, French broadcaster BFM reported.
Security in France’s schools has been the subject of intense debate in recent years. In June, then-Prime Minister Francois Bayrou said the government would test adding security gates at schools after a school aide was stabbed during a bag search.
In 2020, the murder of teacher Samuel Paty after he showed pupils caricatures of the Prophet Mohammad in a class on free speech sparked a political uproar.
Elisabeth Borne, France’s education minister, said in a post on X on Wednesday that an emergency response unit had been activated to aid students and staff and that she would visit the scene immediately.
“I strongly condemn the assault of a teacher by a student at a middle school in Bas-Rhin. I express my solidarity with the teacher and the school community,” she wrote.
Jacky Wolforth, the mayor of the town of Benfeld where the attack took place, said the school was evacuated and described the incident to reporters as “isolated”.
The prefecture declined to comment, and the gendarmerie and the local prosecutor did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
