Counter-terror police are investigating after a teacher was stabbed to death at a French school on Friday, the attack coinciding with the Hamas call for a global “day of jihad”.
Update 1400: France already tried to deport suspected knifeman
An update from Le Figaro, which names the alleged knifeman who killed a teacher in France today as Mohamed Mogouchkov and says his family was already subjected to a deportation from the nation as not being legally in France in 2014. Yet a group of civil society and pro-migrant groups campaigned successfully to have the deportation halted.
Recently, Mogouchkov is said to have been under such close scrutiny by the French state for extremism that he was both wiretapped and subjected to physical surveillance. Despite these precautions, he still managed — it is claimed — to launch an attack without being interdicted.
AFP reports the slain teacher and both injured parties had knife wounds to the neck and throat, including one that was struck in the carotid artery.
President Emmanuel Macron is visiting the site of the attack.
The original story continues below:
French President Emmanuel Macron (C) arrives at the Gambetta high school in Arras, northeastern France on October 13, 2023, after a teacher was killed and two other people severely wounded in a knife attack, police and regional officials said. The perpetrator has been detained by police, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin wrote on X, formerly Twitter. (Photo by Ludovic MARIN / AFP) (Photo by LUDOVIC MARIN/AFP via Getty Images)
French police officers from the forensic service and rescuers stand in front of the Gambetta high school (Photo by DENIS CHARLET/AFP via Getty Images)
French police officers from the forensic service stand in front of the Gambetta high school in Arras (Photo by LUDOVIC MARIN/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
A 20-year-old Chechen migrant already on France’s extremism watch list, known in France as having an “S file”, was arrested in Arras near the Belgian border in the northeast after a knife attack at a high school that saw one killed. The office of the counter-terror prosecutor has taken over the investigation, reports Le Figaro, noting it is investigating crimes said to be “assassination” and “attempted assassination” in connection with a “terrorist enterprise”, and “terrorist criminal association”.
A teacher was slain in the attack at Gambetta Secondary School and two others were injured, including the deputy headmaster, and the suspect was arrested at the scene. The suspect is alleged to have shouted the Islamic war cry “Allahu Akhbar” as he struck and is a former pupil at the school.
Une opération de police a eu lieu au lycée Gambetta à Arras. L’auteur des faits a été interpellé par la police.
— Gérald DARMANIN (@GDarmanin) October 13, 2023
According to the French interior minister both the suspect and his brother — who was near another school at the time of his apprehension, it is claimed — have been arrested. His ‘S’ file for being a known radical, reports French media, is said to be for “radical Islamism”.
While what may have motivated a young man to attempt to stab several people while shouting “Allahu Akbar” is presently unknown, the alleged attack nevertheless coincides with what terrorist group Hamas called a “Day of Jihad” on Friday 13th, calling for an “Al-Aqsa Flood”, a reference to their own attack on Israel on Saturday.
Hamas called on Palestinians to rise up against Israeli soldiers, and said per a report by The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI):
We declare next Friday, ‘The Friday of the Al-Aqsa Flood,’ as a day of general mobilization in our Arab and Islamic world and among the free people of the world… It is a day for sacrifice, heroism, and dedication, and to earn the honor of defending the first Qibla of Muslims, the third holiest mosque, and the ascension of the trusted Messenger.
This is a developing story, more follows
