In French city of Rennes, a 12-year-old schoolgirl tried to harm her English teacher with a knife during class, according to prosecutors.
Thankfully, no one was injured, but authorities are treating it as an attempted murder.
The schoolgirl, born in 2011, entered the English class armed with a large knife, expressing an apparent intent to harm her teacher, shared Rennes prosecutor Philippe Astruc.
The teacher managed to escape unharmed as the girl brandished the knife, and school staff swiftly disarmed her at Hautes Ourmes junior high school.
During a press conference, Astruc displayed drawings of the 17-centimeter (6.7 inches) long kitchen knife involved in the incident.
The young girl underwent psychiatric evaluations, leading to the conclusion that she was “dangerous for herself” and needed specialized care.
The prosecutor emphasized the possible dominance of psychological or psychiatric factors in the girl’s actions.
The 12-year-old is the eldest among four children in a family of Mongolian origin that has been residing in France since 2012.
Tensions within the French education system have been escalating, with incidents such as a radicalized Islamist stabbing a teacher to death in Arras in October.
Recently, teachers in a school near Paris refused to work after students objected to a painting containing nude women.
Education Minister Gabriel Attal expressed unwavering support for the teacher, commending the “immense courage and composure” of the school staff who effectively responded to the threat.
A student from the school disclosed an earlier dispute between the schoolgirl and the teacher, involving the alleged confiscation of the student’s cellphone.
In a separate incident on the same day, prosecutors in the Paris suburb of Creteil launched an investigation into death threats targeting race, ethnicity, nationality, or religion.
This followed a man breaking into a creche and threatening its director with a knife, making anti-Semitic remarks and threats of rape.
The developments highlight the challenges within the French education system, with educators facing not only disruptions in the classroom but also serious threats to their safety.
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