In the pouring rain, scattered processions of teenagers, faces hidden by hoods or umbrellas, converge on the entrance to the Saint-Thomas-d’Aquin high school, in Saint-Jean-de-Luz (Pyrénées-Atlantiques ). Some hold colorful bouquets close to them, others bring simple white roses which soon pile up along the railings. Welcomed by the establishment’s teams, but also by the police and a swarm of journalists, they return to the classrooms the day after a tragedy that has left the whole city in shock.
On Wednesday morning, February 22, a sophomore at this private high school got up in the middle of Spanish class, locked the classroom door, then stabbed his teacher with a kitchen knife he had hidden in paper towels before going to an adjoining room where two teachers intervened, asked him to drop his weapon and subdued him. Agnès Lassalle, 52, could not be revived and died shortly afterwards.
The teenager must be presented Friday to an examining magistrate for an indictment. The public prosecutor of Bayonne, Jérôme Bourrier, announced that a judicial investigation for premeditated murder would be opened on Friday in view of “the obvious preparation”.
This story, reported by the prosecutor Thursday afternoon, is a very real memory for some students among the hundreds who were present at the entrance to the establishment.
Xan – none of the people mentioned wanted to be named – is one of them. Present in the class during the attack, he recounts, his voice trembling, “stunning”the few seconds of denial faced with a gesture « impossible »the ” panic “, “the reflex to run away”, the police, psychological help. Others, many more, saw nothing but quickly discovered the facts, by a text message received from a friend while they were in class, or on social networks. They relate the two hours “uncertainty and anxiety” that they spent confined to their classroom before being able to leave the establishment and join their parents, whom deep concern did not spare.
“Everyone unites for the students”
From, “we can no longer get off social networks and TV, we only talk about that”, breathes Victoire, 16, who, like her comrades, has spent hours on TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, where hundreds of videos and comments circulate. She came with her first class with a flower in her hand to pay tribute to the teacher killed, but also to find her friends, and to exchange ” in truth “.
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