Schoolteacher stabbed to death by pupil in southwest France

[February 22, 2023]  PARIS (Reuters) -A teacher was stabbed to death by a 16-year-old pupil on Wednesday at a Roman Catholic high school in the town of Saint-Jean-de-Luz in southwestern France, local officials said.  

Pupils fled in panic after the stabbing, local newspaper Sud Ouest said. The Spanish-language teacher, a woman, was 50 years old, Sud Ouest said.

Police arrested the pupil, who told another teacher he was possessed and heard voices that instructed him to attack the teacher, according to local media including BFM TV.

"My thoughts are with the family, colleagues and the pupils. I will be going to the site straight away," Education Minister Pap Ndiaye said.

(Reporting by Layli Foroudi; writing by Sudip Kar-Gupta and Ingrid Melander; editing by Frank Jack Daniel and Mark Heinrich)

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