A 14-year-old boy shot two people at a middle school in southern France on Monday after hiding a hunting rifle in a guitar case.

The teenager opened fire at Joseph-Lakanal middle school in Aubagne, near Marseille, injuring the headmaster and a teacher before a staff member stopped him.

The headmaster (53) and teacher (37) are not in critical condition. A third person received a graze wound from gunfire.

The suspect walked into the school carrying what looked like a guitar case, Marseille’s deputy public prosecutor Audrey Jouaneton said.

“He clearly removed a weapon from this guitar case — a long gun, a hunting rifle,” Jouaneton said.

He fired at least four shots, including inside a classroom with teachers and pupils present. One bullet left a mark on a blackboard.

Pellets hit headmaster

Jacques Witkowski, prefect of the Bouches-du-Rhone region, said the teenager shot the headteacher first.

“The suspect, for reasons as yet unknown, fired at the headteacher, who was hit by a shower of pellets in the thighs and lower back,” Witkowski said.

The gunman then fired at a second teacher, hitting the person in the thigh with buckshot before a staff member disarmed him.

Witkowski said the suspect “is not known for any history of delinquency or radicalisation.”

‘Only come for the teachers’

Sarah, a pupil at the school, told AFP she heard the fire alarm during her Spanish lesson. She and her classmates went into the corridor and “bumped into” the gunman.

“He started shooting and said: ‘I’ve only come for the teachers, not for the pupils,’” Sarah said.

Police opened an investigation into attempted murder.

Authorities said the shooting does not appear linked to high school protests that have hit France in recent weeks.

“The middle school was not affected by the high school students’ protest,” police told AFP.

Macron praises staff

French President Emmanuel Macron praised the teaching staff on X for their quick reaction.

“I commend the composure and exemplary response of the teaching staff, which helped to prevent the worst from happening,” Macron said.

Interior Minister Laurent Nunez and Education Minister Edouard Geffray arrived at the scene Monday afternoon.

Geffray called for action against such violence.

“This unacceptable act is yet further evidence of the rise of unchecked violence in our society, against which we must all take a stand,” Geffray said on X.

French schools have seen several violent incidents in recent months. Some schools now check bags at entry.

In February, a 14-year-old stabbed an art teacher in southern France at least three times, leaving the 60-year-old in critical condition.

A 14-year-old student fatally stabbed a teaching assistant in eastern France in June last year.

In April last year, a student carried out a stabbing spree in several classrooms, wounding a girl and three other pupils.

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