A teacher was killed and two others were critically injured in a knife assault at a school in France, according to authorities, news agency AFP reported. The incident occurred at the Gambetta high school in the northern city of Arras, according to Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin.
According to local officials, the assailant has been apprehended. During the attack, the assailant yelled "Allahu Akbar," or "God is greatest," according to authorities, according to the AFP news agency.
A video circulating on social media, recorded from the high school's windows, shows the assailant, armed with a knife, approaching individuals in the school parking lot. His victims use a school chair to hold him at away, but one of them falls and is battered by the assailant.
According to the French broadcaster BFMTV, the attacker's sibling has also been captured by police. The broadcaster further reported that the individual slain was a French language instructor, and a sports teacher was also stabbed and injured. There were no injuries among the pupils. According to local media, the attacker is roughly 22 years old and a former pupil. It also stated that the attacker's sibling had been apprehended.
When President Emmanuel Macron visited the school hours after the incident, he stated that the victim "stepped in and probably saved many lives." Macron also stated that police foiled a "attempted attack" in another French province following the tragic stabbing of the teacher.
The president did not elaborate, but police said a guy armed with a knife was apprehended as he exited a prayer hall in the Yvelines area west of Paris. The man's motivations were not immediately obvious, according to authorities.
The alleged assailant in Arras was apprehended. He was recognised by the National Police as a Russian national of Chechen heritage born in 2003. According to the French intelligence agencies, the individual has been constantly observed since the summer with tails and telephone surveillance and was stopped as recently as Thursday for a police check that revealed no criminality.
The police stated that the situation is currently under control.
(With Inputs From Agencies)