French police have arrested four people after beheading a teacher in a city near Paris, French media report based on a judicial source. Among the detainees is a minor. They are all related to the perpetrator, who was shot by officers yesterday afternoon.
The attack was around 5 p.m. in the town of Conflans-Sainte-Honorine. The 47-year-old high school teacher was beheaded in the street with a knife, presumably because he had shown cartoons about the prophet Mohammed in a lesson. He would have wanted to initiate a debate on this.
According to French media, the culprit is an 18-year-old Chechen, who was born in Moscow. He was shot by the police several hundred meters away for not wanting to release the weapon he was holding and behaving aggressively.
French President Macron spoke of an Islamic terror attack during a visit to the city last night. “A citizen has been murdered for teaching about freedom of expression. All of France is behind his teachers. Terrorists will not divide our country. We must unite.” Macron said France will respond “quickly and with authority”.