France terror attack: Teacher reportedly 'decapitated' after showing images of Prophet Muhammad

Authored by news.sky.com and submitted by Alex_Mor

A man has been "assassinated" in an Islamist terror attack in a Paris suburb "because he was a teacher", France's president has said.

The history teacher, who is said to have discussed images of the Prophet Muhammad with his pupils, was beheaded, it has been reported.

The suspected attacker was shot dead about 600 metres from the scene, according to the AP news agency.

It happened on a street in Conflans Sainte-Honorine, northwest of the French capital, at about 5pm local time.

Visiting the scene, Emmanuel Macron called it a "cowardly attack", saying that the man was a "victim of an Islamist terrorist attack" and was killed because he "taught the freedom of expression, of believing and not believing".

The president said France would "protect and defend" its teachers.

Image: Emmanuel Macron at the scene

According to Le Parisien newspaper, the attacker was an 18-year-old man of Chechen origin, who was carrying a knife.

He is believed to have been shot after he refused to put down his gun.

A gun was found at his side. Other reports say it was an airsoft gun that fired plastic pellets.

The country's anti-terror prosecutor earlier called the incident a stabbing, but both the Reuters and AP news agencies said police sources told them the victim was decapitated.

Image: The suspect was shot dead about 600 metres from where the attack took place

Witnesses heard the attacker shout Allahu Akbar, or God is greater, Reuters said.

The teacher had reportedly shown images of the Prophet Muhammad in class during a discussion about freedom of expression about 10 days ago.

The suspect did not have a child at the school, AP said.

A Twitter thread posted last Friday alleged pupils had been shown cartoons of the prophet.

However, a parent of one of the teacher's pupils said he asked Muslim students to raise their hands and to leave the classroom before they were taught about the image.

She said: "My son understood right away - the evening he came home, he understood right away that it was not to discriminate.

"He told me, no it was not to offend us, it was images that he didn't want us to see. My son understood that at no moment he (teacher) had lacked respect."

Image: Witnesses heard the attacker shout Allahu Akbar

Education minister Jean-Michel Blanquer tweeted that the republic had been attacked through the "despicable assassination of one of its servants".

He added that "unity and firmness are the only answers to the monstrosity of Islamist terrorism".

It is the second terrorism-related incident since the opening of an ongoing trial on the newsroom massacre in January 2015 at the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo after the publication of caricatures of the prophet of Islam.

As the trial opened, the paper republished caricatures of the prophet to underscore the right of freedom of expression.

Exactly three weeks ago, a young man from Pakistan was arrested after stabbing, outside the newspaper's former offices, two people who suffered non life-threatening injuries.

The 18-year-old told police he was upset about the publication of the caricatures.

VotingHoppity on October 16th, 2020 at 20:08 UTC »

Macron looked recently like he's starting to get pissed about situation, can we get some official action now?

rouzzzzz on October 16th, 2020 at 18:27 UTC »

My god, I feel very sorry for the teacher and their family

quixotic_cynic on October 16th, 2020 at 17:44 UTC »

French police have shot a man dead after a stabbing attack in a Paris suburb.

According to French media, a man was decapitated in the Conflans St Honorine area at about 5pm local time.

The country's anti-terror prosecutor has called the incident a stabbing but Reuters news agency has reported a police source saying the victim was decapitated.

A second police source told Reuters that witnesses heard the attacker shout Allahu Akbar, or God is greater.

France's anti-terrorism prosecutor has begun an investigation, the AP news agency reported.

A spokesman for French police said the victim was a teacher at a nearby middle school. He taught history, AP added.

He had reportedly shown images of the Prophet Muhammad in class during a discussion about freedom of expression.

Le Parisien newspaper said the victim was "horribly mutilated".

It also said the attacker was the parent of a student, but this has not been confirmed by police.

The interior minister is understood to be travelling to the area.