The alleged perpetrator of the attack in a high school in Arras, killing a teacher and injuring two other people, is a 20-year-old young man of Chechen origin. He and his brother were arrested by the police.
A man entered the Gambetta-Carnot school complex in Arras this Friday, October 13, armed with a knife. He killed a French teacher and injured two other people, one seriously. The perpetrator was arrested according to Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin. He allegedly entered the school grounds shouting “Allah Akhbar” before taking action.
The suspect, Mohammed M., is said to be a former student of the establishment. The 20-year-old young man, of Chechen origin, had been listed as S for radicalization since October 2023, according to Le Parisien. Born in Russia, he arrived in France in 2008. His former teachers describe him as a “reserved and calm” student. One of his former PE teachers at the establishment says he never detected his radicalization: “We could never have suspected that.”
The perpetrator of the knife attack in Arras was reportedly checked the day before the incident according to BFMTV, without any offense having been noted. He was the subject of “multiple intelligence techniques” adds the news channel, but his recent telephone conversations had not revealed a desire to take action soon.
The desire to commit an attack?
Le Monde confirms that “since this summer”, he was notably “placed under surveillance and physically monitored” by internal security. But he would be similar to “a radicalized individual whose potential is known but who suddenly decides to take action, making his neutralization difficult.”
These elements seem in any case to be taken seriously, in addition to the circumstances of the Arras attack, since the national anti-terrorism prosecutor’s office has announced that it is taking up the matter. The national anti-terrorism package announced for its part that it would open an investigation into “assassination in relation to a terrorist enterprise”, “attempted assassination in relation to a terrorist enterprise” and “terrorist criminal association with a view to preparing crimes of to people”.
The anti-terrorism sub-directorate of the National Directorate of the Judicial Police (SDAT), the National Directorate of the Judicial Police (DNPJ) and the General Directorate of Internal Security (DGSI) are in charge of the investigations.
A family with a criminal past
Following the attack allegedly perpetrated by Mohammed M, the latter’s little brother, aged 17, was also arrested. The eldest of the two brothers was arrested in 2019 by the DGSI after a foiled attack plan and acts of apology. He would be imprisoned for five years for “criminal terrorist associations”, according to a source cited by TF1/LCI. Their father would also have been in prison according to RTL information.
The attacker looking for a history teacher
For the moment, the exact reasons for Mohammed M.’s action have not been revealed. Act of a purely terrorist nature, resentment towards his former high school, the teaching staff or the targeted professor in particular? A high school sports teacher interviewed by Voix du Nord, who was the attacker’s teacher three years ago, in any case spoke of “a solitary student, with whom we could speak but who was withdrawn”.
Another professor, this time of philosophy, provides a semblance of a clue. While he was watching the scene, he explains that he tried to intervene but was pursued by the attacker who asked him if he was a history and geography teacher. It is also the discipline taught by Samuel Paty, murdered just three years ago or almost in front of his college in Conflans-Sainte Honorine. A course on freedom of expression, as part of a moral and civic education course, which depends in particular on history teachers, was at the origin of the attacker’s action…