Assailant armed with scissors and knife still at large after assaulting kindergarten teacher in Paris suburb

This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

A kindergarten teacher has been injured in a stabbing at a French school, with prosecutors investigating claims the attacker said he was acting on behalf of Islamic State.

The incident took place at about 7.15am local time on Monday in Aubervilliers, a north-eastern suburb of Paris.

French media reported that the teacher at Jean Perrin nursery school was preparing the classroom when he was assaulted by a hooded man, wearing a mask and gloves, who then fled the scene on foot. No children were in the school at the time.

The attacker, who was armed with scissors and a box cutter, a blade similar to a Stanley knife, claimed to be from Isis and said “this is a warning”, a prosecutor in Bobigny told reporters, citing witnesses.

The Seine-St-Denis prefect, Philippe Galli, who visited the scene with France’s education minister, Najat Vallaud-Belkacem, said it was too early to determine the intentions of the attacker, who had worn a balaclava and allegedly found the knife and scissors on the school premises.

Vallaud-Belkacem described the attack as “an act of great gravity … [the government] will ensure security is strengthened in the school and surrounding facilities.” Classes have been cancelled but will resume on Tuesday.

A spokeswoman for the Paris prosecutor’s office, Agnès Thibault-Lecuivre, said anti-terrorism authorities were investigating the incident. The assailant was still at large, she added.

The teacher had a small wound to the throat but was not thought to be in a critical condition. He was being treated in the Lariboisière hospital in Paris, Le Monde reported.

In a French-language propaganda sheet called Dar-al-Islam, published in November, Isis called for followers to target French public schools for their secular teachings, which it said was “in open war against the Muslim family”.

Security at French schools and universities had been stepped up as part of the three-month state of emergency in the country, which was introduced by legislators after the Paris terror attacks a month ago.

The incident came a week after a knife attack at a London tube station, where a man is alleged to have attacked a passenger with a knife claiming “this is for Syria”, which police are treating as a terrorist incident.