A 17-year-old pupil armed with guns and grenades opened fire in a school in southern France on Thursday, leaving around 10 people injured and rattling nerves in the terror-scarred country.
Education Minister Najat Vallaud-Belkacem praised the "heroic" head teacher of Alexis de Tocqueville high school in the sleepy hillside town of Grasse who appeared to have helped prevent greater bloodshed.
He rushed towards the student as he pulled out his guns "to try to reason with him," Vallaud-Belkacem said, adding that he was injured in the process.
People react near the Tocqueville high school in the southern French town of Grasse, on March 16, 2017 following a shooting that left two people injured. /CFP Photo
"We avoided the worst," she said. Three pupils and the head teacher suffered minor gunshot wounds, while another 10 students were hospitalized for shock or injuries sustained during a stampede, Vallaud-Belkacem told reporters at the scene.
Local prosecutor Fabienne Atzori ruled out a terror motive and said the shooting appeared to have been motivated by the gunman's "bad relationships" with classmates.
The teenager was described by Minister Vallaud-Belkacem as "unstable and fascinated by guns" and was carrying a rifle, two handguns and grenades when he was detained by police shortly after the lunchtime attack. He offered no resistance to his arrest, the prosecutor said.
French policemen stand at the Tocqueville high school in the southern French town of Grasse, on March 16, 2017 following a shooting that left two people injured. /CFP Photo
The suspect, who has not been named publicly as a minor, had shared pictures and videos on social media of infamous US school shootings, including the 1999 Columbine massacre.
Witnesses described scenes of panic as pupils fled the shooting or looked for places to hide. Fifteen-year-old Mokhtaria told AFP she was having a cigarette in the school garage when she heard shots ring out.
"We saw people coming down shouting: 'There's a nutter firing at people'. We ran for it," she said.
All schools in Grasse were locked down after the shooting and police threw a cordon around the building in the town which is home to several perfume factories.
(Source: AFP)
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