A teacher died and two people were injured on the morning of October 13, during a knife attack at a secondary school in Arras. The perpetrator of the attack, of Chechen origin and registered for radicalization, according to a police source, was arrested. The National Anti-Terrorist Prosecutor’s Office opened an investigation.
A man stabbed a teacher to death and seriously injured two others, at a high school in Arras (Pas-de-Calais) on Friday, October 13, shouting “Allah Akbar” at the time of the attack, amid fears that the conflict between Israel and Hamas is imported to France.
The attack occurs almost three years after the murder of Samuel Paty, a 47-year-old teacher, who was beheaded on October 16, 2020 near his secondary school in Yvelines, after showing his students caricatures of Muhammad during classes on freedom of expression.
Among the two injured there is a secondary school teacher in a state of absolute emergency after receiving several stab wounds and a teacher in a state of relative emergency, police sources confirmed. The professor was “very seriously injured, between life and death,” said another source close to the case.
The detained man, Mohammed Mogushkov, about 20 years old and with a criminal record, is of Chechen origin, like Samuel Paty’s attacker, according to police sources. One of whom added that he is a Russian citizen who arrived in France in 2008.
Mogushkov “was the subject of active monitoring” by the General Directorate of Internal Security (DGSI) and had been controlled on Thursday, “without being accused of any crime,” an intelligence source told AFP.
“He was under wiretapping and physical surveillance since this summer,” the source added, specifying that “his telephone conversations in recent days had revealed nothing that could indicate that he was about to take action.”
One of his brothers had “been arrested in the summer of 2019 by the DGSI, in relation to a frustrated attack and for acts of apology, for which he is in prison,” the source added.
His other brother, 17 years old, was arrested near another establishment. According to the police source, “several members of the family have been arrested for the purposes of the investigation” opened by the National Anti-Terrorist Prosecutor’s Office.
The French Muslim Council condemns the attack
The head of state, Emmanuel Macron, arrived shortly before 3:00 p.m. at the Léon Gambetta Lyceum in Arras. The French president entered the school, accompanied by the Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, and the Minister of Education, Gabriel Attal. He planned to greet teaching staff and emergency services before making a public statement.
Macron greeted and chatted with emergency crews, police officers and members of the school’s teaching staff. When leaving, shortly after 3:30 p.m., he stopped in front of the teacher’s body, which was still lying in front of the school, covered by a blanket. Forensic teams worked around him.
Furthermore, the French head of state went to a neighboring building where some high school students were staying.
For his part, Gabriel Attal asked the rectors of the educational authorities to “take, without delay, all necessary measures” to “reinforce the security of all schools” in France, in a message sent by the ministry.
The French Council of the Muslim Faith (CFCM) “firmly condemned the attack”, calling this act “terrorist”. In addition, he expressed “his deepest condolences to the victim’s family” and wishes “a speedy recovery to the injured.”
Le CFCM condamne fermement l’attaque terroriste survenue dans un lycée d’Arras faisant un mort et plusieurs blessés. The CFCM presents its sincere condolences to the family of the victim, souhaite a prompt rétablissement aux blessés and expresses its full solidarity.
— CFCM (@CfcmOfficiel) October 13, 2023
The Muslims of France (MF) federation also “firmly condemned the barbaric act” of Arras, in a publication on its social network X.
“We want to express our deep sadness and solidarity with the victims of this tragedy and with the educational community,” adds the message of this organization, close to the Muslim Brotherhood, which until 2017 was known as the Union of Islamic Organizations of France before renaming itself as Muslims of France.
“We barricaded ourselves, then the police arrived and immobilized him”
A wide security perimeter was established around the school, where the police, firefighters and ambulance service were deployed, according to AFP journalists. Parents were present in front of the school, where the students could be seen through the windows.
Students and staff were confined to the school, a police source said.
A philosophy professor who witnessed the attack, Martin Dousseau, described the panic as students confronted the gunman. “He attacked a member of staff in the kitchen. I tried to go down to intervene, but he turned to me, he chased me and asked me if he was a history-geography teacher,” he added. “We barricaded ourselves, then the police arrived and restrained him.”
According to him, the victim was a French teacher at the school. Videos circulating on social media show a young man, dressed in black pants and a gray jacket, fighting with several adults in the school yard, clearly holding a gun, before heading to the school door.
With AFP
#France #teacher #murdered #injured #attack #Arras #high #school