Teacher stabbed to death by pupil 'possessed by the devil' in classroom in France
22 February 2023, 14:53 | Updated: 22 February 2023, 15:09
A pupil who stabbed a teacher to death at a school in France has claimed they were told to carry out the attack by voices in their head.
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The student, 16, stabbed their teacher to death at the school in southwestern France on Wednesday.
French government spokesperson Olivier Véran confirmed the attack and revealed that a student arrested after the stabbing was 16-years-old.
The alleged attacker was suffering from psychological troubles and claimed to “be possessed” after stabbing the teacher in the chest, according to BFMTV.
The assailant reportedly fled the room following the attack and told another teacher that a voice had told him to carry out the stabbing, BFMTV said.
The second teacher retrieved the weapon from the student and remained with him until police arrived at the school.
Police arrested the student at the Saint-Thomas d'Aquin school, a private Catholic school in the the seaside town of Saint-Jean-de-Luz, a popular summer holiday destination.
The teenager entered the classroom while the teacher was giving a Spanish lesson and attacked her, according to French newspaper Sud Ouest.
The victim, who was in her fifties, died of cardiac arrest after emergency services arrived at the school.
Pap Ndiaye, France's Education Minister, shared in a tweet that his thoughts were with the "family, colleagues and students", adding that he was on his way to the school.
Mr Véran said in a press conference: "I can hardly imagine the trauma that this represents."
It comes after a teacher in Virginia, US was shot by a six-year-old student.
READ MORE: Hero teacher improving in hospital after six-year-old pupil shoots her deliberately in 'altercation'
