14-year-old boy wounds school principal and teacher with hunting shotgun in southern France

A 14-year-old boy shot and wounded a school principal and a teacher with a hunting shotgun on Monday in southern France, near Marseille. The incident took place at the Joseph-Lakanal middle school (collège, a French school for early teenagers) in the town of Aubagne. A member of the school staff disarmed the teenager, local authorities said.

The injured

Both victims are the 53-year-old principal and a 37-year-old teacher. Neither is in critical condition. Police said one more person suffered a graze from a shot.

Jacques Witkowski, prefect of the Bouches-du-Rhône department, said the principal was hit by a spray of pellets in the thighs and lower back. The reasons the suspect fired at him are not yet known. The teenager then shot at the teacher, who was struck by pellets in the thigh.

How the attack unfolded

Audrey Jouanneton, deputy prosecutor of Marseille, said the boy arrived at the school carrying a guitar bag, from which he took a long firearm. He fired at least four shots, including in a classroom with teachers and pupils present, and left a note on the blackboard.

According to the prefect, the teenager had no history of offences or radicalisation.

Link to protests

Authorities believe the incident is unrelated to the high school student protests that have shaken France in recent weeks. Police stressed that the protests did not affect this school.