At the end of the custody of the suspect, aged 18, the public prosecutor of Angers, Éric Bouillard, held a press conference this Wednesday, May 29 on the case of the professor attacked with a knife in Maine-et-Loire.
The worst seems to have been avoided. Wednesday May 29, the Angers public prosecutor provided an update on the case of the knife attack on a teacher, which occurred at the Hyrôme high school in Chemillé-en-Anjou, in Maine-et -Loire, Monday morning. While the custody of the main suspect, an 18-year-old high school student attending the establishment, had just been lifted, Éric Bouillard held a press conference during which he notably returned to the young adult’s confidences to investigators. . Announcing that he has been indicted for three assassination attempts, one for the teacher, but also two others concerning students, the prosecutor indicated that the high school student “claims an intention to kill” and specifies “that it “It was for him the way to put an end to the pressure he felt.” The young man was also indicted for “introducing a weapon into an establishment,” said Éric Bouillard.
According to the public prosecutor, the high school student had “never been reported to the judicial authority”. If his behavior in police custody was judged “at times peculiar, a little bizarre” by the investigators, some even suspecting “psychological disorders” – a psychiatric expertise must be carried out as part of the judicial investigation -, premeditation of the act seems recorded. “He intended to attack a teacher,” said the prosecutor, adding that the targeted teacher was not, however, specifically targeted. The young man, however, gave investigators a list of teachers he “likes” and against whom he would not have attacked. And added: “She, it’s not that he didn’t love her. She didn’t [juste] “not one of the people he would have excluded from his intention anyway.” Revealing that the high school student had two knives with him on the day of the attack, one used and abandoned in the classroom during his escape, the other found in his bag, Éric Bouillard also reported that the young man had told investigators that he had not ruled out attacking other people, “including students”.
What happened Monday morning at Hyrôme high school?
During his press conference, the Angers public prosecutor returned to the facts. Monday May 27, the teacher who was initially supposed to give the first lesson of the day was absent, the high school student only finally had his first class hour at 9:45 a.m., with the English teacher. He waited until everyone was seated and the door was closed to take action, around 9:55 a.m. He then took one of his knives and attacked his teacher in the face. The teacher and the other students then tried to protect each other. “This overall movement of the other students and the teacher will allow the other students to get to safety in the corridor,” said the prosecutor. The suspect nevertheless tried to attack two students when they were going out into the hallway. Blows dodged by one, countered using a chair by the second student. The high school student was also allegedly targeted “six or eight times” by other students, before finally fleeing through a window. His report having been “quickly disseminated”, he was able to be arrested immediately, “in the station area”.