What we know about the high school student stabbed in the classroom in Saint-Denis

A knife attack in the middle of the classroom.

A 16-year-old high school student was seriously injured by another student on Wednesday in an establishment in Saint-Denis.

The life of the victim, who was taken to hospital, is not in danger.

But the students and teachers of the Paul Eluard high school interviewed by Europe 1 are in shock, while the acts of violence have been repeated for several months in the department of Seine-Saint-Denis.

Europe 1 takes stock of this aggression.

>> Find Europe Soir with Julian Bugier in replay and podcast here

The aggressor, victim of harassment, would have wanted revenge

The two students, who are part of the same Technological First class, began to fight in the middle of the classroom around 9 a.m. on Wednesday morning.

The altercation then escalated and the alleged perpetrator stabbed the victim in the abdomen.

According to several testimonies, the attacker felt harassed and allegedly suffered taunts.

He would have liked revenge.

"He posted a video on the networks indicating that he was going to do battle," a parent of a student, Eric Delion, told AFP.

The attacker, a 20-year-old student, was arrested in the Paul-Eluard high school by the Anti-Crime Squad (BAC) and taken into police custody.

This incident caused amazement within the establishment.

"We were in the courtyard when the principal came out to tell us that a student had been stabbed. The students who were in the class were very shocked. We don't tell ourselves that we are going to get up one morning and that we will be stabbed in class, "testified a student, questioned by Europe 1 in front of the high school gates.

Teachers point to a lack of resources

The teachers and the parents of the pupils pointed out a lack of means within the establishment.

"The student was taken care of urgently by classmates and teachers until the arrival of the Samu, since we have no nurse", pointed out Jérôme Martin, teacher at the high school. and union delegate interviewed by Europe 1. "Yet we have been asking for one since September, and we have even asserted our right to withdraw. We are in shock but we are also very angry," added the professor from French.

A psychological listening unit was deployed by the rectorate of Créteil and almost all of the students in the class and educational assistants were taken care of, according to the rectorate.

The rector and the president of the Île-de-France region, Valérie Pécresse, visited the site at midday.

Classes, suspended after the assault, should resume Thursday afternoon.  

A high school already subject to problems of violence

Paul Eluard high school had previously been subject to problems of violence.

In April 2018, several hundred teachers and parents gathered on the forecourt of the school to "say stop to violence".

They demanded more human resources and "awareness" of the government.

At the time, in a week, teachers had twice exercised "their right of withdrawal", especially after a stone, thrown through the glass of a classroom, had injured two students, including one in the room. head.

This new attack comes a few days after a "March against oblivion, for youth and education" organized in Pantin, in the same department of Seine-Saint-Denis, in memory of a school principal who was committed suicide, but also of two high school students in Aubervilliers, killed in 2019 in brawls.

Last October, 15-year-old Kewi was killed on the sidelines of a PE class in Les Lilas, in a context of rivalry between the Lilas and Pré-Saint-Gervais districts, where he lived.