A knife-wielding man launched a deadly attack at a high school in northern France, killing a teacher and injuring another teacher and a security guard on Friday. Authorities are investigating the incident as a potential act of terrorism.

Antiterror prosecutors have taken charge of the investigation into the attack at the Gambetta high school in Arras, located approximately 115 miles north of Paris.

According to Sliman Hamzi, a police officer who arrived early at the scene, the suspected attacker, who is a former student of the school, shouted “Allahu akbar,” which means “God is great” in Arabic.

Hamzi received an alert from another officer passing by the high school, who reported that someone was attacking with a knife. He hurried to the school and found the victim who tragically lost their life lying on the ground outside the school, while the attacker was being apprehended.

Although school attacks are uncommon in France, President Emmanuel Macron, along with the interior and education ministers, headed to the scene. The government has also called for heightened security measures at all schools throughout the country.

Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin confirmed that the suspected attacker had been arrested.

Julie Duhamel, a representative of the Unsa teachers’ union in the Pas-de-Calais region, which includes Arras, mentioned that teachers had noted the suspect’s radicalization “a few years ago.” A police source also reported that the suspect’s brother had been detained.

Parents reported that pupils remained confined in the locked-down school more than two hours after the attack.

The incident comes three years after the beheading of a teacher outside a school in suburban Paris. Samuel Paty, a history and geography teacher, was killed on October 16, 2020, by an 18-year-old of Chechen origin who had become radicalized.

Martin Doussau, a philosophy teacher at the Gambetta high school, described how the attacker appeared to be searching for a history teacher. He recounted that the attacker asked him if he was a history teacher before police used a stun gun to subdue him. Doussau mentioned that he immediately thought of Samuel Paty when the attacker inquired about his subject.

The attack occurred amidst global tensions due to a weekend attack by Hamas in southern Israel and Israel’s military response, resulting in civilian casualties on both sides. Calls for mass protests have emerged in Muslim nations after Friday prayers, denouncing Israel’s intensive bombing campaign in Gaza.

On Thursday, Interior Minister Darmanin ordered local authorities to ban all pro-Palestinian demonstrations due to a rise in antisemitic acts following the Hamas attack.

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France has the world’s third-largest Jewish population after Israel and the U.S. and the largest Muslim population in Western Europe.

Naima Moutchou, a vice president of France’s lower house of parliament, expressed solidarity with the victims, their families, and the educational community, as news emerged that a teacher had been killed and others injured in the attack.

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