An art teacher at a secondary school in southern France was stabbed by a pupil Tuesday afternoon, leaving the 60-year-old woman critically injured, authorities say.
The knife attack took place at La Guicharde secondary school in Sanary-sur-Mer, a town near the southern city of Toulon. The stabbing occurred at around 2pm inside the teacher's classroom.
The pupil stabbed the 60-year-old art teacher three to four times, according to the prosecutor of the city of Toulon, Raphaël Balland.
No ideological motive
The 14-year-old boy was arrested shortly afterwards on suspicion of attempted murder. "There are no religious or political connotations to the attack at this stage," Balland told reporters during a press briefing.
He added that investigators were aware of recent tensions between the pupil and the teacher, and that the student "was angry with her" over reports she had filed concerning him.
The prosecutor also said the teenager was facing difficulties at home, but had not previously been known to be violent.
French PM calls for tighter security in schools after deadly knife attack
Minister heads to scene
France's education minister, Édouard Geffray, said he was heading to the school following the incident. "My thoughts immediately go out to the victim, her family and the entire educational community, whose deep shock I share," he wrote on X.
The French president is also reportedly being kept informed of the situation.
Emergency medical services evacuated the teacher to Sainte-Anne hospital in Toulon, where she was undergoing surgery, local authorities said.
Series of school attacks
The stabbing comes amid a series of violent incidents in French schools in recent years.
Last June, a 14-year-old boy was charged with the murder of a teaching assistant after allegedly stabbing her to death during a bag search in the eastern town of Nogent. The victim, 31, was the mother of a young boy.
'Shock still raw', French teachers fearful, five years after Samuel Paty killing
In another case in April 2025, a student killed a girl and wounded several other pupils in a stabbing attack in the western city of Nantes.
Many teachers say they continue to be haunted by the killing of history teacher Samuel Paty in 2020, after he showed cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed in class. His appeal trial is currently under way in Paris.
(with newswires)
