High school shooting injures three in France

At least three people were injured in a shooting at a high school in the southern French town of Grasse yesterday which saw the head teacher targeted, police and local authorities said

The French government’s alert regarding the attack at a high school. Pic/AFP

Nice: At least three people were injured in a shooting at a high school in the southern French town of Grasse yesterday which saw the head teacher targeted, police and local authorities said.

One 17-year-old pupil armed with a rifle, two handguns and two grenades was arrested after the shooting at the Tocqueville high school, a police source told AFP.

There was conflicting information about whether a second suspect was on the run, with police initially telling AFP they were looking for an accomplice. Another police source said the shooter acted alone.

According to a statement from the Grasse town hall, “two pupils shot at the principal.” All schools in the town some 40 kilometres west of the Riviera resort of Nice have been locked down, education authorities said.

The French government initiated an attack alert via smartphone in the wake of the shooting. Local officials said that several pupils had fled and sought refuge in a nearby supermarket “which created panic and rumours of an attack”.

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