France’s anti-terror prosecutors take over Aubagne school shooting inquiry

Investigators are examining the teenage suspect’s possible links to an online milieu that glorifies mass killings.

France’s national anti-terror prosecutor’s office took over the Joseph Lakanal school shooting investigation in Aubagne on October 13. The attack occurred on October 12. The suspect is a 14-year-old pupil who allegedly used a hunting shotgun.

The school’s principal and a teacher were wounded. BFMTV also reported a third person with a minor injury. Those reports concern the attack’s consequences, while the latest development is the transfer of the inquiry to specialist prosecutors.

Prosecutors said initial findings indicated the teenager’s probable adherence to the True Crime Community movement. They described this milieu as glorifying perpetrators of mass killings and potentially encouraging extreme violence. The suspected connection remains an investigative assessment.

The inquiry concerns attempted murder linked to terrorist activity. This classification sets the direction of the investigation but does not mean that a court has established the teenager’s motive or guilt.