Community seeks answers in French school killing
NANTES: Mourners on Friday placed flowers in front of the French private school where a student killed a girl in a stabbing spree that prompted demands for tighter security in classes. High school senior Antonin said he was "sad and shocked" by the attack on Thursday. He said he had brought a white rose to show victims "we're thinking of them". Investigators are working to determine the motive of the youth, who also wounded three other pupils at the Notre-Dame de Toutes-Aides high school in the western city of Nantes.
The most seriously wounded of the three was "doing better" on Friday morning, Nantes prosecutor Antoine Leroy said. Witnesses said teachers overpowered the teenage student, whose identity has not been revealed. He was detained by police then hospitalised after a psychiatric examination. The suspect had sent a rambling email about "globalisation" to other students just before the attacks.
On Friday morning, one parent, who identified himself as Antoine, was dropping off his daughter in third grade 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 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". 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." President Emmanuel Macron on X hailed the courage of the teachers who intervened and "likely prevented other tragedies". — AFP
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