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- BBC News World
A high school student stabbed to death a teacher at a school in southwestern France.
The attack occurred this Wednesday in the city of San Juan de Luz and was perpetrated by a 16 year oldreported French government spokesman Olivier Véran.
The police arrested the alleged assailant at the academic center, the Santo Tomás de Aquino school.
The attacker entered the classroom while the teacher was teaching a Spanish class, according to the French newspaper Sud Ouest.
Once inside the room, closed the door and stabbed her in the chestindicated the television channel BFM.
The teacher was 52 years old and died of cardiac arrest after the arrival of the emergency services, local media reported.
No record and mental problems
Local prosecutor Jerome Bourrier announced that local police have opened a murder investigation and the suspect is in custody.
He added that the alleged assailant had no criminal record in the country’s police and judicial systems.
French Education Minister Pap Ndiaye called the attack “an extremely serious tragedy” and expressed his condolences.
“Today is a moment of emotion and solidarity,” he said during a visit to the school.
“The entire nation is here to express its pain and emotion,” he proclaimed.
Local media claimed that the student could suffer from mental health problems.
They also clarified that, according to what has been investigated so far, there are no indications linking this incident to terrorism.
In a press conference, Véran, the government spokesman, offered his support to educators across the country in the aftermath of the event.
“It’s hard for me to imagine the trauma that this represents,” he said.
The scene of the event is a private Catholic school near the urban center of Saint Jean de Luz, a town in France known for being a popular summer destination.
Following the incident, the students were asked to remain in their classrooms and then told to go home.
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