Teacher in Critical Condition After Being Stabbed by Teenager at School

A teacher is fighting for her life after being stabbed multiple times by a 14-year-old student during class at a middle school in southern France, authorities said.

The attack happened Tuesday afternoon at a school in Sanary-sur-Mer. Prosecutors said the victim, a 60-year-old art teacher, was stabbed three to four times with a knife inside her classroom.

The teenage student was immediately arrested and is being held on suspicion of attempted murder, according to Toulon prosecutor Raphael Balland. Officials said the student had no prior criminal record.

Investigators said there was no evidence of a religious or political motive behind the attack. However, Balland noted that tensions had reportedly existed between the student and the teacher prior to the stabbing.

The victim, whose name has not been released, was rushed to a hospital and remains in critical condition, according to local police. One investigative source said the teacher suffered stab wounds to the abdomen and arm and that the student had been shouting threats before the attack.

France’s education minister, Edouard Geffray, said he was traveling to the school, identified by local media as La Guicharde, following the incident.

“My thoughts immediately go out to the victim, her family, and the entire educational community, whose deep shock I share,” Geffray wrote on X.

The stabbing has once again reignited debate over safety in French schools, which have faced a series of violent incidents involving students in recent years. In June of last year, then–Prime Minister Francois Bayrou announced plans to test security gates at schools after a school aide was stabbed during a bag search.

Other recent cases have heightened public concern. In September, a music teacher was stabbed in the face by a 14-year-old student during class at a middle school in northeastern France. In October 2023, a French literature teacher was fatally stabbed at the Gambetta-Carnot school in Arras, where three other staff members were also injured in the attack.

Perhaps the most infamous case occurred in 2020, when teacher Samuel Paty was beheaded after showing students caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad during a lesson on free speech. That killing sparked nationwide outrage and major political fallout.