PARIS (Reuters) -A teacher who was stabbed by a student fascinated by “Nazi ideologies” in a middle school in northeastern France is in stable condition, the French education minister told reporters on Wednesday.
“She is still being treated at the hospital. She had an initial operation and is under observation at the hospital, but her life is not in danger,” Elisabeth Borne told reporters.
French media reported that the music teacher was stabbed in the face by a student during class, and authorities arrested a 14-year-old suspect soon after the attack.
The suspect stabbed himself during his arrest and has also been taken to an area hospital, French broadcaster BFM reported.
Security in France’s schools has been the subject of intense debate in recent years. In June, then-Prime Minister Francois Bayrou said the government would test adding security gates at schools after a school aide was stabbed during a bag search.
And in 2020, the murder of teacher Samuel Paty after he showed pupils caricatures of the Prophet Mohammad in a class on free speech sparked a political uproar.
Borne said the suspect remained in critical condition.
“This young man had been identified for his fascination with Nazi ideologies,” Borne said, but added: “This was not a young man known for being violent.”
Jacky Wolfarth, mayor of the town of Benfeld where the attack took place, said the school was evacuated and described the incident to reporters as “isolated.”
The prefecture declined to comment, and the gendarmerie and the local prosecutor did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
(Reporting by Makini Brice; additional reporting by Dominique Vidalon and Geert De Clercq; Editing by Bernadette Baum and Hugh Lawson)
