14-Year-Old French Pupil Arrested After Guitar-Case Shotgun Attack Wounds Two Staff Members

​AUBAGNE, France — A rare and shocking episode of gun violence unfolded at a southern French middle school on Monday morning when a 14-year-old pupil, reportedly distraught after a breakup, opened fire on staff members with a 12-gauge hunting shotgun smuggled inside a guitar case.

​The incident occurred at the Joseph Lakanal middle school in Aubagne, near Marseille. According to Marseille prosecutor Nicolas Bessone, the teenage suspect roamed across two floors of the building, discharging multiple shots.

​The principal and a teacher were struck in the legs and lower back by shotgun pellets on the first floor. Both victims were swiftly transported to a hospital with injuries described as non-life-threatening. A third person sustained a minor graze wound during the chaos.

​Witness accounts indicate the teen moved upward to the second floor, firing into a hallway floor and discharging another round into a classroom blackboard. While no students or additional staff were struck during the second wave of gunfire, pupils inside the classrooms were left deeply traumatized.

ADVERTISEMENT

​Crisis intervention was quickly mobilized, with local officials announcing that comprehensive mental health counseling would be provided to all affected students.

​The rampage was cut short when a brave member of the school staff intercepted and disarmed the teenager in a stairwell, an act of intervention that prosecutors and political leaders praised extensively. French President Emmanuel Macron took to social media to commend the staff’s “composure and exemplary response,” noting that their swift actions “prevented an even worse outcome.”

​Authorities confirmed that the suspect had no prior history of delinquency or radicalization. While preliminary local reports pointed toward a personal motive involving a recent romantic breakup, prosecutors emphasized that a formal investigation for attempted murder has been opened to determine the exact sequence of events.

​Education Minister Édouard Geffray condemned the episode, stating that the “unacceptable act once again highlights the rise of unbridled violence in our society”. Police and regional officials also verified that the shooting bore no connection to unrelated nationwide protests by high school students that have recently impacted other parts of the country.