Mother of pupil attacks Nice school director and teacher with gun

A 36-year-old mother of two pupils threatened the director of a school in Nice with a handgun and repeatedly struck her on Monday morning, before slapping a teacher at the same school, prosecutors said. Nice prosecutor Damien Martinelli said an investigation had been opened for attempted murder of someone carrying out a public duty, and the woman's police custody had been extended.

The woman arrived at the Clément-Roassal school that morning asking to see the director urgently, Martinelli said. She pointed the gun at the director while accusing her of failing to act on claims that one of her children had been sexually abused, then slapped her, pulled her hair and struck her again in the face, the prosecutor said. She also pulled out a knife and held it to the director's cheek before leaving the office about an hour after arriving.

On her way out, she encountered a teacher to whom she made the same accusations, slapped her and pointed the weapon at her before leaving the school, according to the prosecutor's statement. She was arrested shortly afterwards at her home.

The woman, who holds Tunisian and Italian nationality and works as a care assistant, denies any violence, Martinelli said. She has two previous convictions, including one in 2019 for violence with a weapon; a search of her home did not find the handgun used in the attack. The case has been handed to the Nice judicial police for further investigation.

Nice mayor Éric Ciotti, who visited the school, condemned what he called an attack of "extreme and particularly serious violence" that shocked the city's education community; no pupils witnessed the attack, he said. Nice's regional education director, Emmanuel Roux, said an academic security team had been sent to the school along with psychological support for staff and pupils.