PARIS - A 15-year-old teenager suffered a cardiac arrest after being attacked in a town outside Paris in the second such incident in nearly a week amid threats of violence sent to schools around the country.
The boy was badly beaten by several people on April 4 as he was leaving Les Sablons middle school in the town of Viry-Chatillon, about 20km south of Paris.
Citing a police source, The Guardian reported that the assailants fled after the attack. The teenager, who was found on a street not far from his school, then went into cardiorespiratory arrest and was taken to hospital.
Viry-Chatillon mayor Jean-Marie Vilain said the attackers “tried to massacre” the teenager, and called them “the worst kind of thugs”. He added that such extreme violence was becoming “commonplace”.
Mr Vilain said psychological help would be provided to students and teachers at the school.
The public prosecutor’s office has opened an investigation into attempted murder and gang assault.
Schools around France have recently received through an internal messaging system dozens of messages threatening attacks, resulting in heightened tensions around the country.
On April 2, a 14-year-old girl was seriously injured after she was attacked outside her school, the Arthur Rimbaud college, in the southern city of Montpellier.
An investigation has been launched by the French government into the attack to “establish the reality of the facts and to establish responsibilities”, said French Education Minister Nicole Belloubet.
The victim, named Samara, was left in a coma after allegedly being beaten by three teenagers.
One of the attackers, a 14-year-old, attended the same school as her, while the other two were aged 14 and 15. They have since been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder of a minor.
Samara, who has since come out of her coma, was reportedly bullied for 2½ years by a fellow student, according to her mother in media interviews.
French President Emmanuel Macron expressed solidarity with Samara, and urged for conclusions to be drawn only after the full truth had been established.
