Teaching Assistant, 31, Dies After Being Fatally Stabbed by 14-Year-Old Student Outside School During a Bag Check: Reports

A teaching assistant has died in France after being stabbed by a 14-year-old student, according to reports.

The 31-year-old victim, who hasn’t been identified, was fatally injured on the morning of Tuesday, June 10, outside Françoise Dolto school in Nogent in northeastern France, per The Times, the BBC and French outlet Le Monde.

A 14-year-old boy has reportedly been arrested in connection with the incident, The Times reported, citing police. The outlet noted that the victim had been stabbed as police carried out a random search for knives in students’ school bags.

Per the Associated Press, a police officer helping with the checks has also been slightly injured. The news agency added that fatal attacks in the country were rare, but the Education Ministry had introduced bag checks in some locations this year amid concerns about rising violence in schools.

Regional Prosecutor Denis Devallois said the student did not have a police record, the AP stated.

The victim was the mother of a young boy and had been working at the school since September, according to France 24, citing one of her cousins, Aurore.

“She was a very cheerful, very kind person,” Aurore said, per the outlet.

French President Emmanuel Macron said the teaching assistant had been a “victim of a senseless wave of violence,” in an X post, adding, “The nation is in mourning.”

The country’s Education Minister Élisabeth Borne called the incident “a terrible tragedy” on X, writing in a translated post, “I express my full support to the victim and her loved ones.”

“I salute the composure and commitment of those who acted to restrain the attacker and protect the students and staff,” she added.

Prime Minister François Bayrou said the stabbing showed “a breakdown of the society in which we live,” according to France 24.

“This is not just an isolated incident,” he said, per the outlet.

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France 24 noted that a student had killed a girl and injured multiple others in a stabbing in the city of Nantes in April, adding that French government figures released in February stated that reports of bladed weapons in schools had jumped by 15 percent over the past year.

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The Haute-Marne prefecture and Nogent police didn’t immediately respond when contacted by PEOPLE for additional information.