Student kills one, wounds three in French high school stabbing

15-year-old boy stabs classmates at French school, killing girl, before being subdued by teachers, police.

A 15-year-old boy killed a fellow pupil and wounded three others in a stabbing attack at a high school in the western French city of Nantes on Thursday (April 24, 2025), before he was overpowered by teachers, police said.

BFM TV reported that the student who died was a girl and that the three injured students were boys. Police did not confirm the age or gender of the victims.

Teaching staff subdued the attacker at the Notre-Dame-de-Toutes-Aides, a private Catholic school, before police arrived, a police spokesperson said.

She said there was nothing to indicate a terrorist motive.

Students were held inside the school after the attack but allowed to leave in the mid-afternoon under police protection. Dozens of parents waited outside.

"We're waiting to be able to hold them in our arms ... to help them deal with the stress this will have caused," said Nicolas, a parent at the school.

Police did not name the suspect or give any motives for the attack.