A 14-year-old boy opened fire Monday morning at a school in Aubagne, near Marseille in southern France, lightly wounding the principal and a teacher. The teenager arrived at the middle school armed with a shotgun that was reportedly concealed inside a guitar case and fired several shots at staff members. The principal was wounded in his thighs and the teacher was also struck in the thigh, but neither suffered life-threatening injuries. A staff member overpowered and disarmed the teenager, who was subsequently arrested by police. His motive remains unclear.
The shooting occurred at Joseph Lakanal college, which has approximately 700 students. According to local media reports, the teenager entered the school carrying a 12-gauge shotgun concealed in a guitar case.
Jacques Witkowski, a government official who arrived at the scene, told AFP that "the suspect, for reasons that remain unknown, fired at the principal, who was struck in the thighs by a spray of shotgun pellets."
"He then fired a second shot at a teacher, who was struck by a pellet in her thigh, and fired a third shot in a hallway before a staff member overpowered him," Witkowski said.
The 53-year-old principal and 37-year-old teacher received medical treatment and were taken to hospitals in the area. Authorities said neither suffered life-threatening injuries and no students were hurt.
The person who stopped the gunman was a school staff member responsible for extracurricular activities. According to reports, he rushed at the teenager, overpowered him and took away his weapon before police arrived. The teenager was arrested and taken in for questioning.
The shooting sparked panic at the school, with many students calling their parents after hearing gunfire and witnessing disturbing scenes. Worried parents rushed to the school to pick up their children, and many remained outside into the afternoon as police and emergency responders worked at the scene.
Maryline, the mother of a student at the school, told AFP about the phone call she received from her daughter shortly after the shooting.
"She called me in a panic. She said there was blood everywhere and that it was an attack. I left work and tried to calm her down. When I arrived, I was told the boy had been arrested," she said.
Parents embrace their children outside the school. The suspect was described as a quiet teenager
(Photo: Miguel MEDINA / AFP)
(Photo: Miguel MEDINA / AFP)
(Photo: Miguel MEDINA / AFP)
Local authorities established an emergency response center at the school and arranged psychological support for students and staff who witnessed the incident. Security forces cordoned off the area, and the municipality urged residents to stay away from the school to allow emergency crews to work without interference.
Police are investigating what prompted the teenager to open fire, how he obtained the shotgun and how he managed to bring it into the school.
According to Witkowski, the suspect is a ninth-grade student who had not previously come to the attention of authorities for criminal activity or extremism.
"He is a student at the school, in ninth grade, with no known history of criminal behavior or radicalization," the official said.
He stressed that investigators had yet to determine what motivated the teenager to shoot at school staff.
Aubagne Mayor Jean-Pierre Squillari said the suspect had been described as a quiet teenager. He added that the boy's father had recently requested a meeting with teaching staff, although it was unclear whether that request had any connection to the shooting.
The incident came amid a wave of protests by high school students in France over issues including the state of the education system and learning conditions. Some demonstrations have involved clashes with police and incidents of violence, but authorities were quick to clarify that there was no indication of a connection between the protests and the Aubagne shooting.
"The middle school was not affected by the high school student protest movement," local police said.
The scene of the shooting. Gun attacks at French schools are relatively rare
(Photo: Miguel MEDINA / AFP)
(Photo: Miguel MEDINA / AFP)
(Photo: Miguel MEDINA / AFP)
French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu instructed Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez and Education Minister Édouard Geffray to visit the scene. Sabrina Roubache, the minister responsible for education and vocational training, was also expected to visit the school.
The education minister condemned the attack, saying it reflected the spread of violence in French society, and called for a collective effort to combat the problem.
Knife attacks more common at French schools
School shootings are relatively rare in France, but numerous knife attacks have occurred at educational institutions in recent years.
In April, a high school student was seriously wounded in a stabbing in Ancenis, western France. Two months earlier, in February, a 14-year-old student stabbed an art teacher at a school in Sanary-sur-Mer in southern France, leaving her seriously injured. According to authorities, the teenager stabbed the teacher several times during class in front of other students.
In September 2025, a former student entered a horticultural high school in Antibes, southern France, and stabbed a teacher and a student.
In June 2025, a particularly serious attack occurred in Nogent, eastern France, when a 14-year-old student stabbed a 31-year-old school staff member to death during a police inspection of students' bags at the school entrance. The killing shocked the country and prompted calls for tighter controls to prevent weapons from being brought into educational institutions.
Two months earlier, in April 2025, a knife-wielding high school student killed a 15-year-old girl and wounded three other people at a school in Nantes, western France.
The attack reignited public debate in France over the safety of students and teachers, violence among young people and the need to strengthen security measures at schools.