American Marconi Wireless News - French prosecutors charge pupil, 18, with three attempted murders

France has in recent years been shaken by a series of school incidents involving attacks on teachers as well as schoolchildren by their peers.

In the latest case of teenage violence, an 18-year-old pupil was detained in western France on Monday after stabbing his English teacher in the face and fleeing.

The pupil from the western town of Chemille-en-Anjou attacked the teacher during class, slashing her cheek, authorities said.

Prosecutors said on Tuesday that the suspect also targeted two pupils at the school and that he had been preparing "for several days."

On Wednesday, public prosecutor Eric Bouillard said that the pupil had been indicted and remanded in custody for three attempted murders of a teacher and two pupils, citing his "intention to kill."

"For him, it was a way of putting an end to the pressure he was feeling, and he also wanted to find out what it was like to kill someone," Bouillard told reporters.

After the attack on the teacher the teenager tried to stab another pupil.

The teenager then attacked a second pupil, targeting him "six or eight times" with a knife, Bouillard said. The pupil had to protect himself with a chair, he added.

Then the attacker left through the window, abandoning his knife, according to the authorities. He was arrested by municipal police.

Prosecutors have ruled out "any religious or radical motive", saying that the suspect has expressed feelings of "unhappiness."

Education Minister Nicole Belloubet said on Monday she was "deeply shocked and outraged".

In April, French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal announced measures to crack down on teenage violence in and around schools, as the government seeks to reclaim ground on security from the far-right ahead of upcoming European elections.

O.Johnson--AMWN