The schoolboy suspected of brutally stabbing to death a 15-year-old girl at their school in western France was a loner fascinated by Adolf Hitler, but had no clear motive for the attack, which shocked the country, the prosecutor said on Friday, April 25. The teenage boy killed the girl in a stabbing attack on Thursday, at the private Notre-Dame de Toutes-Aides high school in Nantes, inflicting "57 knife wounds" in her body, mainly to the upper torso, skull and throat, according to prosecutor Antoine Leroy.
He was arrested but then hospitalised on Thursday evening, rather than being placed in detention, after a psychiatric examination. Witnesses said teachers had overpowered the teenage student to end his attack.
Investigators are working to determine the motive of the suspect, a teenager in the second year of high school, who also wounded three other pupils in Thursday's attack at the high school. He was "extremely solitary," fascinated by Nazi leader Adolf Hitler and had "evidently suicidal" tendencies, said prosecutor Antoine Leroy, however adding that "no motive" could be put forward in a "certain manner" at this stage.
The suspect sent a long email to fellow pupils before the attack, in which he said: "Globalisation has transformed our system into a machine to decompose humanity." In the email, which Le Monde was able to access, the attacker advocated a "biological revolt" to facilitate a return to "the natural balance, however cruel" instead of "globalised ecocide."
The attack prompted new soul-searching in France about teen violence and school security, with Prime Minister Francois Bayrou suggesting metal detectors to prevent future attacks. On Thursday, Bayrou called for a response to the "endemic violence" among some youths and demanded proposals to prevent further violence. "These weapons must be banned," said Bayrou, raising the possibility of metal detectors as "one option."
Figures on the right hailed the idea, with some calling for even tougher security measures. "Metal detectors, video surveillance with facial recognition – nothing should be ruled out," said far-right lawmaker Eric Ciotti.
The left, meanwhile, decried the cost and pushed for a focus on mental health. "It would cost €100,000 per school. There are 12,000 schools in our country, so you can quickly do the math," radical left MEP Manon Aubry said, while speaking to the broadcaster FranceInfo. "On average, there is one psychologist for every 1,500 students in our schools," she added, calling for action to address "the causes" of violence.