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| Student, 17, Opens Fire at High School in Southeastern France | Student, 17, Opens Fire at High School in Southeastern France |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| PARIS — A heavily armed student burst into a high school in southeastern France on Thursday, firing at the headmaster and injuring two students, officials said. | |
| Pierre-Henry Brandet, a spokesman for the French interior minister, told the BFM TV news channel that the student, who is 17, was arrested shortly after at the school, the Lycée Alexis de Tocqueville in Grasse, about 20 miles west of the seaside city of Nice. | |
| News of the shooting quickly captured national attention in France, where school shootings are rare and where the authorities are still on high alert after a string of terrorist attacks. Interior Minister Bruno Le Roux met with Prime Minister Bernard Cazeneuve on Thursday afternoon to discuss the shooting in Grasse and a letter bomb at the International Monetary Fund office in Paris. Education Minister Najat Vallaud-Belkacem was scheduled to visit the school later on Thursday. | |
| Mr. Brandet said that the suspect was not known to French police or intelligence services and was “very heavily armed,” but he cautioned that it was still unclear whether all the weapons were functional. | Mr. Brandet said that the suspect was not known to French police or intelligence services and was “very heavily armed,” but he cautioned that it was still unclear whether all the weapons were functional. |
| “He opened fire with a long firearm and wounded the headmaster,” Mr. Brandet said, adding that at least eight people were lightly wounded, although he said some of them might have been hurt in the tumult that followed the shooting. | |
| “It is obviously too early to say what this individual’s motivations were,” Mr. Brandet added. | “It is obviously too early to say what this individual’s motivations were,” Mr. Brandet added. |
| Citing information from local police officers, a spokeswoman for the Grasse town hall said the assailant appeared to be with an accomplice — also a student — who fled. | Citing information from local police officers, a spokeswoman for the Grasse town hall said the assailant appeared to be with an accomplice — also a student — who fled. |
| Mr. Brandet also said the police were searching for a “potential” accomplice, but that it was not yet clear that the gunman had been with one. | Mr. Brandet also said the police were searching for a “potential” accomplice, but that it was not yet clear that the gunman had been with one. |
| The French authorities quickly sent an alert about a situation in Grasse through a government-run smartphone app created to warn people of possible terrorist attacks or natural disasters nearby. “Intervention underway by the security forces and emergency services,” the warning read. “Do not put yourself at risk.” | |
| Police officers cordoned off the area around the school. | |
| Emmanuel Ethis, the superintendent of schools for the Nice area, said on Twitter that students in Grasse were safe, and he asked parents not to rush to schools, where students had been confined inside. | Emmanuel Ethis, the superintendent of schools for the Nice area, said on Twitter that students in Grasse were safe, and he asked parents not to rush to schools, where students had been confined inside. |