Teenager shoots principal, teacher at French school

AUBAGNE, France (AFP) -- A 14-year-old boy opened fire with a hunting rifle at a middle school in France on Monday, injuring the headmaster and a teacher before being disarmed by a member of staff, local authorities said. The shooting took place at Joseph-Lakanal middle school in the southern town of Aubagne, near Marseille, where a third person was grazed by gunfire, police said. Authorities said there did not appear to be a link with high school protests that have rocked France in recent weeks. "The middle school was not affected by the high school students' protest," police told AFP. The suspect "came in carrying a bag which was a guitar case. He clearly removed a weapon from this guitar case -- a long gun, a hunting rifle," said Marseille's deputy public prosecutor Audrey Jouaneton. He fired at least four shots, including inside a classroom occupied by teachers and pupils, leaving a mark on a blackboard, she added. The headmaster, 53, and teacher, 37, were not in critical condition, according to authorities. "The suspect, for reasons as yet unknown, fired at the headteacher, who was hit by a shower of pellets in the thighs and lower back," said Jacques Witkowski, prefect of the wider Bouches-du-Rhone region. He then fired at a second teacher, who was hit by buckshot in the thigh before a member of staff disarmed him, he said. The suspect "is not known for any history of delinquency or radicalisation," Witkowski added. Sarah, a pupil at the school, told AFP she heard the fire alarm go off during her Spanish lesson and went into the corridor, where she and her classmates "bumped into" the gunman. "He started shooting and said: 'I've only come for the teachers, not for the pupils,'" she said. An investigation into attempted murder has been opened. -'Prevent the worst'- French President Emmanuel Macron on X praised the teaching staff for their quick reaction. "I commend the composure and exemplary response of the teaching staff, which helped to prevent the worst from happening," he said. Interior Minister Laurent Nunez and Education Minister Edouard Geffray, arrived at the scene Monday afternoon. Geffray called for action against such violence. "This unacceptable act is yet further evidence of the rise of unchecked violence in our society, against which we must all take a stand," Geffray said on X. There has been a spate of violent incidents at French schools in recent months, prompting bag checks on entry in some establishments. In February, a 14-year-old stabbed an art teacher in southern France at least three times, leaving the 60-year-old in critical condition. A 14-year-old student in June last year fatally stabbed a teaching assistant in eastern France. In another, a student carried out a stabbing spree in several classrooms in April last year, wounding a girl and three other pupils.