In a tragic incident at a school in Arras, northern France, a teacher has lost his life, and two others sustained critical injuries in a stabbing. The assailant, who has been apprehended, was already under the scrutiny of security services due to suspected links with radical Islamism. Reports indicate that he was a former student at the Gambetta-Carnot school.
The individual in question, born in 2003 in Chechnya’s predominantly Muslim southern region in Russia, arrived in France with his family in 2008. Disturbingly, it has come to light that he had been flagged as a potential security risk only 11 days prior to this attack, prompting surveillance by the country’s intelligence agencies, including phone monitoring. Alarmingly, he was briefly detained by the police just the day before the incident but was subsequently released.
France’s anti-terrorism prosecution office has initiated an investigation into the matter, with President Emmanuel Macron making a visit to the scene to offer his support. Macron praised the heroic actions of the teacher who lost his life, remarking on how he likely saved many others, as well as commending the courage shown by the injured teacher and staff during the attack.
The attack unfolded around 11 am, leaving a second teacher, reportedly a sports instructor, and a school security guard critically injured and hospitalized. The suspect’s elder brother is currently serving a prison sentence for “associating with terrorist criminals” and justifying terrorism in connection with a foiled attack earlier this year, as reported by several French media outlets. Additionally, a younger brother of the suspect was arrested after the tragic incident.
This assault in Arras eerily echoes a similar tragedy that occurred almost precisely three years ago when Samuel Paty, a history and geography teacher, was killed by an 18-year-old Chechen refugee outside his school in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, a suburb of Paris, on October 16, 2020.
A philosophy teacher at the Arras school, Martin Doussau, recalled a confrontation with the assailant who aggressively inquired if he was a history teacher. Doussau realized the link to Paty’s murder at that moment. The attacker proceeded to attack a third victim before being subdued by the police using a Taser.
Gambetta-Carnot school is comprised of two divisions: a middle school for students aged 11-15 and a high school for those aged 15-18. Sliman Hamzi of the Alliance Police union mentioned that the police arrived swiftly at the scene, but sadly, they were unable to save the teacher who lost his life. He had suffered a fatal carotid artery injury in the school courtyard. Students and teachers were confined to the school premises for approximately two hours before they were allowed to leave.
The tragic incident has led to an outpouring of support, with Naïma Moutchou, vice-president of the lower house of parliament, expressing solidarity and condolences for the victims, their families, and the educational community.
This horrifying attack is another grim reminder of the series of Islamist extremist attacks that have shaken France since 2015. The killing of Samuel Paty sparked a wave of rallies and renewed debates regarding the influence of radical Islam in the country.