2023 Arras school stabbing

{{Infobox civilian attack

| title = Arras school stabbing

| location = Lycée Gambetta-Carnot, Arras, Hauts-de-France, France

| latitude = 50.28783

| longitude = 2.77602

| target = School staff

| date = {{start date|2023|10|13|df=yes}}

| local time = about 11a.m.

| type = Mass stabbing

| weapon = Knife

| fatalities = 1

| injuries = 3

| perpetrator = Mohammed Mogouchkov

| organisation = Islamic State

| motive = Islamic extremism{{cite web|access-date=17 October 2023|author=Pierre de Cossette|date=17 October 2023|publisher=France Info|title=Attentat d'Arras : le suspect a réalisé une vidéo et un audio de revendication et d'allégeance à l'Etat islamique avant l'attaque|url=https://www.francetvinfo.fr/faits-divers/attaque-au-couteau-dans-un-lycee-a-arras/attentat-d-arras-l-assaillant-a-realise-une-video-et-un-audio-de-revendication-et-d-allegeance-a-l-etat-islamique-avant-de-passer-a-l-acte_6127356.html|archive-date=17 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231017094724/https://www.francetvinfo.fr/faits-divers/attaque-au-couteau-dans-un-lycee-a-arras/attentat-d-arras-l-assaillant-a-realise-une-video-et-un-audio-de-revendication-et-d-allegeance-a-l-etat-islamique-avant-de-passer-a-l-acte_6127356.html|url-status=live}}.

|coordinates = {{coord|display=title,inline}}

}}

The Arras school stabbing was a terrorist attack carried out by an Islamist of Ingush origin on 13 October 2023 within the Gambetta-Carnot school in Arras, the capital of the Pas-de-Calais, in the region Hauts-de-France.

Dominique Bernard, a French literature teacher, was mortally wounded in the throat and thorax by the attacker while trying to protect his students. Three other members of staff were injured in the attack: a PE teacher hit in the face and a security guard stabbed several times were severely injured; a maintenance worker was also injured in the cheek. The attack was partly filmed.

Claiming his act in the name of the Islamic State, Mohammed Mogouchkov, 20 years old, is on trial for murder in relation with a terrorist organisation, while his brother, 16 years old, is prosecuted for being an accomplice to murder. They are in custody for the duration of their trial.

According to the testimony of Martin-Roch Doussau, a teacher of philosophy at the Gambetta college, the terrorist was looking for a history teacher, which echoes of the murder of Samuel Paty: three years ago, this history and geography teacher had been killed and subsequently decapitated with a knife by another young adult of Nakh origin.

Background

Amid the Gaza war, Hamas leader Khaled Mashal called for a global day of protest on 13 October, which the media misrepresented as a 'Global Day of Jihad'.{{Cite web |date=2023-10-13 |title=Global Knife Attack Frenzy as Hamas 'Day of Rage' Gets Underway |url=https://news.yahoo.com/global-knife-attack-frenzy-hamas-121619976.html |access-date=2023-10-13 |website=Yahoo News |language=en-US}}{{cite web |title=Former Hamas chief calls for protests, neighbours to join war against Israel |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/former-hamas-chief-calls-protests-neighbours-join-war-against-israel-2023-10-11/ |publisher=Reuters}} The pronouncement led to widespread fears for the safety of both global Jewish communities, as well as the general public, resulting in numerous cancellations of public events, as well as increases in security and policing.{{Cite web |last=Frazao |first=Kristine |date=12 October 2023 |title=Former Hamas leader calls Friday 'Day of Jihad,' calls on Muslims to take to the streets |url=https://cbsaustin.com/news/nation-world/former-hamas-leader-calls-friday-day-of-jihad-message-anger-palestinians-khaled-meshaal-jordan-syria-lebanon-egypt-warfare-plan-iraq-michael-mccaul-john-kirby-ali-baraka-gaza-israel-violence |access-date=13 October 2023 |website=KEYE |language=en}}{{Cite web |date=13 October 2023 |title=LAPD stepping up security amid call for 'Global Day of Jihad' |url=https://ktla.com/news/local-news/lapd-stepping-up-security-amid-reports-of-global-day-of-jihad/ |access-date=13 October 2023 |website=KTLA |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=Wehner |first=Greg |date=12 October 2023 |title=NYC officials beef up police presence for Friday 'global day of Jihad' despite 'no specific, credible threats' |url=https://www.foxnews.com/us/nyc-officials-beef-up-police-presence-day-jihad-despite-no-specific-credible-threats |access-date=13 October 2023 |website=Fox News |language=en-US}} As a precaution, numerous schools, both public and Jewish, were closed for the day.{{cite web |last1=Vainshtein |first1=Annie |title=Bay Area schools announced closures, increased security after 'Day Of Jihad” Call |url=https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/schools-security-gaza-hamas-18424393.php |publisher=San Francisco Chronicle}}{{cite web |last1=Bleakley |first1=Caroline |title=2 Las Vegas schools close Friday over ‘Day of Jihad’ safety concerns |url=https://www.8newsnow.com/news/local-news/las-vegas-charter-school-closes-friday-over-day-of-jihad-safety-concerns/ |publisher=KLAS Las Vegas}}

Attack

At around 11:00 CEST on 13 October 2023, the attack began in the school's car park.{{Cite web |last=Willsher |first=Kim |date=13 October 2023 |title=Teacher killed and two injured in stabbing at school in northern France |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/oct/13/teacher-killed-in-arras-school-attack-in-northern-france |access-date=13 October 2023 |website=The Guardian |archive-date=13 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231013105227/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/oct/13/teacher-killed-in-arras-school-attack-in-northern-france |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |date=13 October 2023 |title=France school stabbing: Here's what we know about the Arras attack |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/france-school-stabbing-heres-what-we-know-about-arras-attack-2023-10-13/ |access-date=13 October 2023 |website=Reuters |archive-date=13 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231013215628/https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/france-school-stabbing-heres-what-we-know-about-arras-attack-2023-10-13/ |url-status=live }} According to witnesses the suspect was heard shouting "Allahu akbar" during the attack.{{Cite web |last1=Leicester |first1=John |last2=Petrequin |first2=Samuel |last3=Schaeffer |first3=Jeffery |date=13 October 2023 |title=A teacher is dead and 2 people are wounded after a France stabbing attack that echoes 2020 killing |url=https://apnews.com/article/france-school-stabbing-arras-878f42a5df4a873ca7bd80a173cc9097 |access-date=13 October 2023 |website=AP News |archive-date=13 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231013124429/https://apnews.com/article/france-school-stabbing-arras-878f42a5df4a873ca7bd80a173cc9097 |url-status=live }} The attacker was confronted by a teacher and other members of staff including the headmaster before being detained by police.{{Cite web |last=Ataman |first=Joseph |date=13 October 2023 |title=Teacher killed and several people wounded in France school knife attack |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2023/10/13/europe/arras-france-school-knife-attack-intl/index.html |access-date=13 October 2023 |website=CNN |archive-date=13 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231013110247/https://edition.cnn.com/2023/10/13/europe/arras-france-school-knife-attack-intl/index.html |url-status=live }}

Casualties

A French language teacher, Dominique Bernard, was killed while another teacher, a security guard and a cleaner were seriously injured.{{Cite web |date=13 October 2023 |title=France school killing was terror attack, says Emmanuel Macron |url=https://news.sky.com/story/teacher-killed-and-several-injured-in-knife-attack-at-school-in-france-reports-12983722 |access-date=13 October 2023 |website=Sky News |archive-date=15 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231015141710/https://news.sky.com/story/teacher-killed-and-several-injured-in-knife-attack-at-school-in-france-reports-12983722 |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |date=13 October 2023 |title=France raises alert to highest level after teacher's fatal stabbing |url=https://www.france24.com/en/france/20231013-macron-says-second-attack-foiled-after-fatal-stabbing-at-french-school |access-date=13 October 2023 |website=France 24 |archive-date=13 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231013164227/https://www.france24.com/en/france/20231013-macron-says-second-attack-foiled-after-fatal-stabbing-at-french-school |url-status=live }}

Suspect

Police said that the suspected attacker, Mohammed Mogouchkov,{{Cite web |date=2024-10-11 |title=Attentat d’Arras, l’assaillant a rédigé un poème de haine envers la France |url=https://www.20minutes.fr/faits_divers/4114971-20241011-attentat-arras-durant-incarceration-mohammed-mogouchkov-ecrit-poeme-contre-valeurs-francaises |access-date=2025-01-17 |website=20 Minutes |language=fr}} was a Russian man of Ingush origin{{Cite news|last=Tarkhanov|first=A.|date=2023-10-14|url=https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/6280383|title=Террорист запросился обратно в школу: Ингуш зарезал французского учителя|trans-title=The terrorist asked to return to school: Ingush stabbed a French teacher to death|work=Kommersant|language=ru|location=Moskva|publisher=Kommersant|page=5|eissn=1563-6380|issn=1561-347X|oclc=244126120|access-date=15 October 2023|archive-date=2 November 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231102025300/https://www.kommersant.ru/amp/6280383|url-status=live}} who was born in 2003 and had moved to France with his family in 2008. Police had arrested him the previous day on suspicion of radicalism. The suspect was known to the French security services for his involvement with radical Islamism; he was arrested by police.{{Cite web |date=13 October 2023 |title=Teacher killed in France school stabbing |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-67101089 |access-date=13 October 2023 |website=BBC News |archive-date=15 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231015212920/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-67101089 |url-status=live }} The suspect was listed at a state list of potential dangerous persons and the domestic secret service DGSI is said to have, among other things, intercepted his telephone conversations.{{Cite news |date=2023-10-14 |title=Frankreich mobilisiert nach Messerattacke in Arras 7000 Soldaten für Patrouillen |language=de |work=Der Spiegel |url=https://www.spiegel.de/ausland/frankreich-mobilisiert-nach-messerattacke-in-arras-7000-soldaten-fuer-patrouillen-a-b28523ff-2f67-44c1-a424-9e5c92436913 |access-date=2023-10-14 |issn=2195-1349 |archive-date=14 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231014225913/https://www.spiegel.de/ausland/frankreich-mobilisiert-nach-messerattacke-in-arras-7000-soldaten-fuer-patrouillen-a-b28523ff-2f67-44c1-a424-9e5c92436913 |url-status=live }} The suspect is a former student of the school and his younger brother was also detained on the same day.{{Cite web |last1=Rossignol |first1=Pascal |last2=Foroundi |first2=Layli |last3=Rose |first3=Michael |date=13 October 2023 |title=Teacher killed in Islamist attack on French school, Macron says |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/teacher-killed-knife-attack-school-northern-france-bfm-tv-2023-10-13/ |access-date=13 October 2023 |website=Reuters |archive-date=13 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231013101202/https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/teacher-killed-knife-attack-school-northern-france-bfm-tv-2023-10-13/ |url-status=live }} The prosecutor said that the attacker had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State and expressed his hatred for France.{{cite web|url=https://apnews.com/article/france-islamic-state-school-attack-paris-1accebb8701a125dbd896a98d6b0a85f|title=French prosecutor says alleged attacker in school stabbing declared allegiance to Islamic State|work=Associated Press|date=17 October 2023|access-date=17 October 2023|archive-date=18 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231018194516/https://apnews.com/article/france-islamic-state-school-attack-paris-1accebb8701a125dbd896a98d6b0a85f|url-status=live}}

Aftermath

The funeral of Bernard was held in the Arras cathedral with screens used to broadcast the hundred watching outside. Bernard was posthumously awarded the Legion of Honor by French President Emmanuel Macron.{{Cite web |date=2023-10-19 |title=France pays respects to teacher killed in school terror attack |url=https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20231019-france-pays-respects-to-teacher-killed-in-islamist-attack |access-date=2023-10-19 |website=France 24 |language=en |archive-date=19 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231019163855/https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20231019-france-pays-respects-to-teacher-killed-in-islamist-attack |url-status=live }}

Immediately after the attack France mobilized at least 7,000 soldiers to be stationed around the country for an increase in security.{{Cite web |last1=Scaeffer |first1=Jefferey |last2=Charlton |first2=Angela |date=2023-10-14 |title=France is deploying 7,000 troops after a deadly school stabbing by a suspected Islamic radical |url=https://apnews.com/article/france-school-stabbing-islamic-radical-96a24beba514c71e61ceb8c25da2cff7 |access-date=2023-10-19 |website=AP News |language=en |archive-date=19 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231019152101/https://apnews.com/article/france-school-stabbing-islamic-radical-96a24beba514c71e61ceb8c25da2cff7 |url-status=live }} Classes were canceled at the Gambetta-Carnot school where Bernard taught, and bomb threats were seen across the country, in airports, the Louvre Museum and the Palace of Versailles. The school was subject to a bomb threat after Bernard's death but as it had only been open to allow pupils and staff to pay tribute to Bernard and other victims, the process of evacuation was quick.{{Cite web |last=Ross |first=Alex |date=2023-10-16 |title=School where teacher was stabbed to death in France evacuated over bomb threat |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/crime/france-school-knife-attack-arras-b2430336.html |access-date=2023-10-19 |website=The Independent |language=en |archive-date=20 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231020152201/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/crime/france-school-knife-attack-arras-b2430336.html |url-status=live }}