14-year-old pupil shoots principal and female teacher at school near Marseille
A 14-year-old pupil fired a hunting shotgun inside the Joseph-Lakanal middle school in Aubagne on Monday, 12 October, wounding the principal and a 37-year-old female teacher. Authorities say the attack is not linked to the nationwide pupil protests.
The shooting at Joseph-Lakanal
On Monday, 12 October 2026, a 14-year-old boy opened fire inside the Joseph-Lakanal middle school in Aubagne, a town east of Marseille in southern France. According to BFMTV, the principal was hit in the hip, the 37-year-old female teacher was wounded in the thigh, and a third person was grazed by a shot. Police said the two more seriously hurt are not in danger of their lives. Reports put the number of shots at four, with HotNews citing at least four, and the boy was detained shortly afterwards. Prosecutors in Marseille confirmed an arrest but gave no further details. The motive is not yet known.
How the weapon got into the school
The suspect is reported to have carried a hunting shotgun, which he hid in a guitar case when he entered the building, according to a statement attributed to Martine Vassal, president of the Bouches-du-Rhône departmental council. The Aubagne mayor, Jean-Pierre Squillari, said the boy fired in a corridor in the direction of the principal and a teacher. He said a school staff member intercepted the boy, restrained him and disarmed him before handing him over to police. Squillari described the pupil as a quiet child who had been enrolled at the school.
The CPE intercepted, restrained and disarmed the pupil.
A source close to the case told BFMTV that the boy is not known to police or the judiciary. BFMTV also reported that prosecutors opened an investigation for attempted murder. Squillari said that the pupil's presence and the shots came without warning in the middle of the school day, and that the school's staff acted quickly to stop him.
Pupils' accounts and the school's response
Students told BFMTV that a fire alarm sounded, and that when they were told not to go down the stairs they turned back. One girl said the shooter was one metre away holding his shotgun and that he fired on the ground. The pupils ran, shouted and hid in a classroom for 15 to 20 minutes under desks before leaving. Squillari said that most pupils saw little because the shots were fired in the corridor, but that many were affected psychologically. A psychological support cell was opened at the school.
Both of them are doing well, I know the effects of a hunting rifle, I am still reassured.
The mayor said he met two of the three victims at the scene, where firefighters were already present. He added that he hopes life will return to normal soon for the school community.
Protests and the government response
Pupils across France have demonstrated for weeks against problems in secondary education, including a shortage of teachers and heavy workloads, and hundreds of schools have closed or remain only partly open. The prefecture of Bouches-du-Rhône and a source close to the investigation told BFMTV that the shots had no link to the pupil movement. Police said the Joseph-Lakanal school was not affected by any blockade and that no protests were held there that day. Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez, Education Minister Édouard Geffray and minister delegate Sabrina Roubache were due to travel to the site on Monday afternoon. Geffray described the act as unacceptable and called for a collective response to spreading violence.
