A school shooting in Grasse, France, injured seven students and the school headmaster Thursday. The alleged shooter, a student at the school, was arrested.
The 17-year-old student entered Alexis de Tocqueville High School around 1 p.m. armed with grenades, a revolver, a rifle and a handgun, according to The Sun. He shot the school’s headmaster and two other students were hurt by ricocheting bullets; five other students received minor injuries as students rushed to escape the building, The Sun reported.
The headmaster, Herve Pizzinat, was thought to be the main target of the shooting.
According to the International Business Times, the student’s social media accounts showed an interest in satanic worship and an obsession with mass school shootings such as the 1999 Columbine massacre in which 13 people were killed and 21 others injured.
Although French authorities originally sent out a terror alert, they have since said the shooting was not linked to terrorism of any kind, The Sun reported. France has been in a state of emergency because of recent deadly Islamic extremist attacks.
A photo on the student’s Facebook page showed him with a clown mask and gas mask on, pointing a gun at the camera.
Other students at the school said that the gunman was a loner who was obsessed with heavy metal, The Sun reported. One student said he was “gentle and low-key, not a nasty guy.”
French Education Minister Najat Vallaud-Belkacem characterized the incident as an “act of madness” by a person fascinated with firearms, The Sun reported.
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