Suspected killer in French school attack a loner with no clear motive, prosecutor says
The teenage boy killed the girl in a stabbing spree on Thursday at the private school in Nantes, inflicting 57 knife wounds in her body, mainly to the upper torso, skull and throat, according to prosecutor Antoine Leroy.
The attack prompted new soul-searching in France about teen violence and school security, with the prime minister suggesting metal detectors to prevent future attacks.
Investigators are working to determine the motive of the youth, who also wounded three other pupils in Thursday's attack at the Notre-Dame de Toutes-Aides high school.
The suspect, a teenager in the second year of high school, was arrested but then hospitalised Thursday evening, rather than being placed in detention, after a psychiatric examination.
The teen is "extremely solitary", fascinated by Nazi leader Adolf Hitler and with "evidently suicidal" tendencies, said prosecutor Antoine Leroy, however adding that "no motive" could be put forward in a "certain manner" at this stage.
Witnesses said teachers overpowered the teenage student -- whose identity has not been revealed but who a fellow pupil also said had expressed an admiration for Adolf Hitler.
The suspect had sent a rambling email about "globalisation" to other students just before the attacks.
High school senior Antonin was among those who joined the mourners outside the school. He had brought a white rose to show victims "we're thinking of them", he said.
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Worried parents
On Friday morning, one parent, who identified himself as Antoine, had dropped off his daughter at the school's primary section.
"We tried to find the right words to tell her about the girl's death yesterday," said the 44-year-old IT manager.
But he said he needed more time before he could talk about the tragedy with his older daughter, a pupil at the high school.
"It's not a bad thing that the youngest ones are back at school today because they can ask the teaching staff questions if they need to," he added.
But another parent, Olivia, 37, said she felt anxious about her child being back in the classroom.
"I admit that I found it difficult to drop my son off at school this morning," said the nursing assistant and mother of four.
"Normally, school is a place where nothing can happen," she added.
The knife attack is the latest in a series that has shocked France.
Prime Minister Francois Bayrou on Thursday called for a response to the "endemic violence" among some youths and demanded proposals to prevent further violence.
"These weapons must be banned," said Bayrou, raising the possibility of metal detectors as "one option".
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'Can't police every kid'
Figures on the right hailed the idea, with some calling for even tougher security measures.
"Metal detectors, video surveillance with facial recognition -- nothing should be ruled out," said right-wing lawmaker Eric Ciotti.
But the left decried the cost and pushed for a focus on mental health.
"It would cost 100,000 euros (more than $110,000) per school. There are 12,000 schools in our country, so you can quickly do the math," hard-left member of European parliament Manon Aubry told broadcaster FranceInfo.
"On average, there is one psychologist for every 1,500 students in our schools," she added, calling for action to address "the causes" of violence.
One student, who asked to remain anonymous, on Thursday said the assailant "was known to be depressed, he said he loved Hitler".
The suspect sent a long email to fellow pupils before the attack, in which he said: "Globalisation has transformed our system into a machine to decompose humanity."
In the email, which a pupil showed to AFP, the attacker advocated a "biological revolt" to facilitate a return to "the natural order of things, even if cruel" instead of "globalised ecocide".
One mother who did not give her name called metal detectors "pointless", as she dropped off her son at the memorial service.
"You can't police every kid," she said. The attack "just shows that we need to support them and help them more".
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