A violent assault at La Guicharde secondary school in Sanary-sur-Mer has left a 60-year-old art teacher fighting for her life after being stabbed multiple times by a 14-year-old student. The attack occurred during class hours on Tuesday afternoon, witnessed by approximately twenty students who observed the horrifying incident unfold in their classroom.
According to Toulon public prosecutor Raphaël Balland, the adolescent suspect fled the scene immediately following the assault but was apprehended by authorities in the schoolyard. The minor has since been taken into custody on suspicion of attempted murder. Preliminary investigations indicate the attack stemmed from personal grievances rather than ideological motivations, with prosecutor Balland noting recent tensions between the student and educator.
Local educational authorities evacuated the entire campus following the stabbing and canceled Wednesday’s classes to allow for psychological support and investigation. France’s Education Minister Edouard Geffray announced his immediate departure to the coastal Var region school, expressing solidarity with the victim, her family, and the educational community via social media platform X.
This incident represents the latest in an alarming pattern of school-based violence across France. Recent years have witnessed several similar tragedies, including the June 2025 fatal stabbing of a teaching assistant by another 14-year-old student, an April knife attack in Nantes that resulted in one student’s death and multiple injuries, and the 2020 beheading of educator Samuel Paty by a religious extremist near Paris.