The Minister of National Education, Gabriel Attal, went to the Gambetta-Carnot high school in Arras (Pas-de-Calais), Saturday October 14 in the morning, the day after the terrorist knife attack which cost the life of Dominique Bernard, a French teacher, and injured three people. He was notably accompanied by Xavier Bertrand, the president of the Hauts-de-France region, and the prefect. The minister, who stayed there for an hour and a half, spoke with teachers and students and also went to the listening cell set up after the attack perpetrated on Friday. Follow our live stream.
The assailant remained silent during the first hours of his custody. Mohamed M., 20 years old, on S file and former student of the establishment, was closely monitored by the intelligence services. He was even checked by the police on Thursday. Eight other people were arrested, including the mother of the main suspect, one of his brothers aged 16, his sister and his uncle, Franceinfo learned from a source close to the investigation.
“Up to 7,000 soldiers of the Sentinel force” will be deployed in the territory. These soldiers will be “deployed by Monday evening and until further notice”, said the Elysée on Saturday, confirming information from RTL. France went into “emergency attack” alert on Friday, the highest level of the Vigipirate system which allows the mobilization of exceptional resources.
“A moment of union and contemplation” will be organized in schools on Monday. This is what Gabriel Attal announced yesterday evening from his ministry, specifying that“a reinforcement of security forces around establishments” schools will be in place from this Saturday.