One student dead and at least three injured in a stabbing at a Nantes high school

BarcelonaA student at the private Notre-Dame de Toutes-Aides secondary school in the Doulon neighborhood of Nantes, western France, has died and three other students have been injured in a stabbing attack, police said. A police spokesperson said there was no evidence of a terrorist attack pending further investigation. The 16-year-old student involved in the attack was subdued by teachers before police arrived, the spokesperson added. At the time of his arrest, the suspect was carrying two knives, wearing safety shoes, black pants, dark glasses, and a balaclava.

According to witnesses at the scene, the first signs of the incident came around 12:30 p.m. local time, when the building's alarm was heard. At the time, the students were unaware of what was happening. Upon leaving the classrooms an hour later, many had witnessed scenes of panic and crying classmates. "When we left at 1 p.m., we saw second-grade students crying. Later, some friends told me that three people had been stabbed," explained one student at the school.

The police immediately cordoned off the area and deployed a large emergency response team. All students were evacuated to the school's multipurpose room, and a psychological emergency unit was activated to assist affected students and staff. "We saw the police arrive, we locked ourselves in, and then they took us out to the playground. They told us that some teachers had tried to intervene. It's very shocking," recounted another witness.

A suspicious email

Early this morning, some students received a strange email, allegedly sent by the student behind the attack. The message, titled Immune action – The revolt is already the greatest victory we can achieve, was a long text that spoke of ecocide, alienation, and social conditioning.

Relatives began arriving shortly after, while representatives of Catholic schools also traveled to the scene. "We had just gone out to eat and heard the news on the tram. It's horrible," lamented one student through tears.

The attack has shocked the entire educational community and the city as a whole. "We only see this on television. We would never have imagined it could happen at our school," said another visibly affected student, speaking to the online newspaper. West France.