French authorities have arrested a 14-year-old suspect after a school principal and a teacher were shot with a hunting rifle at a secondary school in southern France on Monday.
Another person sustained minor injuries in the incident in Aubagne, near Marseille, while the principal and teacher were not in critical condition, police said.
According to French television station France 3, the suspect fired several shots inside the school before staff members managed to restrain the teenager ahead of the arrival of law enforcement officers.
Education Minister Edouard Geffray said on X that a student at Joseph-Lakanal school was suspected of carrying out the shooting.
“This unacceptable act once again demonstrates the rise of uncontrolled violence in our society, which we must all fight against,” he said.
The Marseille public prosecutor’s office confirmed the teenager’s arrest but did not provide further details.
The Prime Minister’s Office said the interior and education ministers were travelling to the scene.
Authorities also said the incident was not believed to be connected to the protests by upper secondary school students that have affected parts of France in recent weeks.
“The lower secondary school was not affected by the upper secondary school student demonstrations,” police told AFP.
