Pupil detained after suspected school shooting in France

Police have detained a 14-year-old pupil after a suspected school shooting in southern France that left the principal and another staff member injured.

The Bouches-du-Rhône police department, in southern France, said the suspect’s motive is unknown.

The boy taken into custody on Monday was carrying a gun and is a pupil of the Joseph Lakanal middle school in Aubagne, east of Marseille, where the shooting occurred, police said.

The staff members were hit with ammunition used in 12-gauge shotguns but their injuries were not life-threatening, officers added.

No pupils were injured, police and Aubagne’s mayor said.

The mayor said mental health counselling was being offered to pupils.

There was no immediate information to suggest that the shooting was in any way connected to protests by secondary school pupils that have been shaking France for several weeks.

The middle school was not impacted by the protests on Monday, police said.

In a post on X, education minister Edouard Geffray said: “This unacceptable act once again highlights the rise of unbridled violence in our society, against which we must all mobilise. In words as well as deeds.”

Gun violence perpetrated by pupils in schools is rare in France. In 2017, a 16-year-old student armed with a rifle, pistols and a small grenade opened fire at a high school in southern France, wounding three students and the principal.

Stabbings by pupils in schools are also uncommon. Last year, a middle school employee in eastern France was stabbed to death by a 14-year-old student during a bag check.

Also in 2025, a 15-year-old student stabbed four other students at a secondary school in western France, killing one and wounding three others before he was arrested.

Published: 12/10/2026 by Radio NewsHub