Paris [France], April 19: A knife-wielding attacker in France left two primary schoolchildren with only superficial cuts on Thursday but terrified the town of Souffelweyersheim on the outskirts of Strasbourg.
Schools in Souffelweyersheim locked down for security reasons after the attack, and a schoolgirl at a nearby secondary school suffered a serious heart attack, according to police.
The two schoolgirls cut in the knife attack were taken to the paediatric ward of the university hospital in Strasbourg, while the schoolgirl who suffered a heart attack is being treated in serious condition in hospital.
The 28-year-old suspect has been taken into police custody, according to the public prosecutor's office. Authorities would not comment on possible motives for the attack.
The suspected perpetrator was not previously known to police and had no record of radicalization, Jean-Baptiste Peyrat, an official with the regional government, said outside the school. Peyrat said the man had not entered the school and there was no longer any danger.
According to media reports, the suspect was arrested without resistance just minutes after the attack. The BFMTV broadcaster reported that the attacker was not in full possession of his mental faculties, citing police sources.
According to the authorities, the schoolgirls - aged 6 and 11 - were attacked in two different places, one outside her school and the other in a nearby square.
France is currently on the highest terror alert level and schools have been under special protection for some time.
The school kept other pupils inside the school building, which was locked down for security reasons after the attack, as worried parents gathered outside.
"I panicked, I immediately thought of my son," a mother told BFMTV outside the school. "It hurts to know that something like this can happen in a school." Psychological assistance has been organized for other pupils at the school, according to police.
Source: Qatar Tribune
