AUBAGNE, France (AP) — French police detained a 14-year-old boy suspected of opening fire Monday on his middle school principal and a teacher with a shotgun that he hid in a guitar case, wounding both in a rare school shooting, prosecutors said.
A staff member at the Joseph Lakanal middle school in Aubagne disarmed the boy after he fired multiple shots while roaming on two floors of the school, prosecutors said. Police then took him into custody. Aubagne is about 15 kilometers (9 miles) east of the Mediterranean port city of Marseille.
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Police officers stand in front the Joseph Lakanal middle school after police have detained a 14-year-old pupil suspected in a rare school shooting, in Aubagne, France, Monday Oct. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Philippe Magoni)
Police officers stand in front the Joseph Lakanal middle school after police have detained a 14-year-old pupil suspected in a rare school shooting, in Aubagne, France, Monday Oct. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Philippe Magoni)
Police officers stand in front the Joseph Lakanal middle school after police have detained a 14-year-old pupil suspected in a rare school shooting, in Aubagne, France, Monday Oct. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Philippe Magoni)
A police officer stands in front the Joseph Lakanal middle school after police have detained a 14-year-old pupil suspected in a rare school shooting, in Aubagne, France, Monday Oct. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Philippe Magoni)
Gun violence perpetrated by pupils in schools is rare in France.
Marseille prosecutor Nicolas Bessone said in a statement that the pupil fired once or twice on the first floor, wounding the principal and the teacher in the legs. They were hit with pellets used in 12-gauge shotguns, according to Marseille deputy prosecutor Audrey Jouaneton and police. They were transported to a hospital with injuries that weren’t life threatening.
The boy's motives were unknown, Jouaneton said.
“We still don't have sufficiently precise evidence to say that he wanted to target the teaching staff — this principal and the teacher — but they were in any case hit by the shots,” she said.
The boy then went to the second floor and opened fire again, twice — the first at the floor in front of a teacher and the second in a classroom, hitting the teaching board. The shots didn't hit any teachers or the pupils in the classroom, but they were “very shocked," Bessone said.
The boy was then intercepted by a staff member in a stairwell, with what Jouaneton praised as “extreme courage.”
In a post on X, French President Emmanuel Macron praised the staff's “composure and exemplary response,” saying they “prevented an even worse outcome.”
Mental health counseling was offered to pupils.
There was no immediate information to suggest that the shooting was in any way connected to protests by high school pupils demanding better-resourced schools that have been shaking France for several weeks.
The middle school wasn't impacted on Monday by the protests, police said.
On X, Education Minister Édouard Geffray posted that “this unacceptable act once again highlights the rise of unbridled violence in our society, against which we must all mobilize. In words as well as deeds.”
Still, such events remain uncommon. In 2017, a 16-year-old student armed with a rifle, pistols and a small grenade opened fire at a high school in southern France, wounding three students and the principal.
Stabbings by pupils in schools are also unusual. Last year, a middle school employee in eastern France was stabbed to death by a 14-year-old student during a bag check.
Also in 2025, a 15-year-old student stabbed four other students at a high school in western France, killing one and wounding three others before he was arrested.
Leicester reported from Paris.
Police officers stand in front the Joseph Lakanal middle school after police have detained a 14-year-old pupil suspected in a rare school shooting, in Aubagne, France, Monday Oct. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Philippe Magoni)
Police officers stand in front the Joseph Lakanal middle school after police have detained a 14-year-old pupil suspected in a rare school shooting, in Aubagne, France, Monday Oct. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Philippe Magoni)
Police officers stand in front the Joseph Lakanal middle school after police have detained a 14-year-old pupil suspected in a rare school shooting, in Aubagne, France, Monday Oct. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Philippe Magoni)
A police officer stands in front the Joseph Lakanal middle school after police have detained a 14-year-old pupil suspected in a rare school shooting, in Aubagne, France, Monday Oct. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Philippe Magoni)
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks kicked off a busy week on Monday with mixed trading on Wall Street that is keeping the market hovering around its all-time high.
The S&P 500 fell 0.1% and is trading around its record set last week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 215 points, or 0.4%, as of 10:46 a.m. Eastern time. The Nasdaq composite fell 0.3%.
Energy stocks had some of the biggest gains as oil prices jumped. Chevron rose 1%.
Technology stocks were the biggest weights on the market. Micron Technology fell 4.6% and Advanced Micro Devices fell 3.2%. They are among several companies in the sector with big stock values that tend to have a heavy influence on the market.
The price of Brent crude, the international standard, jumped 2.3% to $107.11 per barrel. Prices have been swinging between $96 and nearly $110 over the last month over uncertainty about the U.S. war with Iran and its continued impact on global energy supplies and inflation.
Prices jumped despite President Donald Trump's announcement on social media Friday that he struck a deal to buy Russian diesel with Russian President Vladimir Putin, aiming to tamp down a spike in fuel prices ahead of the Nov. 3 U.S. midterm elections. The plan, though, runs counter to U.S. efforts to cut the flow of money Russia gets from oil and gas sales that can be used to pay for its war against Ukraine.
Higher oil prices have been driving gasoline prices higher. That's a direct hit to many people's wallets, as gasoline is usually a necessary expense. The rise in diesel is more indirect, raising the costs for just about any shipped product, which usually results in higher prices for everything from food to clothing.
The surge in energy prices and its impact on the broader economy will be a key focus this week as Wall Street reviews several important economic updates. They include fresh data on the housing market, inflation and retail sales.
The big updates this week involve reports about inflation hitting consumers and businesses. On Wednesday, the government will release the closely-watched consumer price index, or CPI, which measures price changes for a wide range of products and services. Economists expect the index to show the rate of inflation worsened to 3.6% in September from 3.4% in August.
A report on inflation called the producer price index will be released on Thursday and is also expected to show that inflation remains stubbornly high. It measures inflation faced by businesses before it hits consumers.
An update on how consumers are reacting to high prices will be released on Thursday. Economists expect the report on retail sales for September to show that households pulled back on spending.
The rate of inflation by any measure remains well above the Federal Reserve's target rate of 2%. That prompted the central bank to raise its benchmark interest rate at its last meeting in an effort to cool inflation. Wall Street expects another rate hike before the year ends.
Inflation and expectations for high interest rates have been driving Treasury yields higher in the bond market. The 10-year Treasury yield, which influences mortgage rates, recently touched its highest level since 2002. It has since eased a bit and stood at 5.24% late Friday. U.S. bond trading was closed Monday for the Columbus Day holiday.
Higher mortgage rates have been weighing on the housing market and Wall Street will get an update on home sales on Tuesday.
The latest round of corporate earnings updates ramps up this week with financial results from banks. Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo will report their results on Tuesday and Bank of America will report its results on Wednesday. They have been reporting record profits throughout the year and Wall Street expects more of the same for the latest quarter.
Markets in Europe gained ground and markets in Asia were mostly lower. Markets in Tokyo were closed for a holiday.
AP Business Writers Michelle Chapman and Elaine Kurtenbach contributed to this report.
Options traders, including Marty Handler, foreground, and Matt Hefter, right, work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
FILE - Commuters emerge from a Wall Street subway station in New York's Financial District on Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Peter Morgan, File)
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A currency trader passes by a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, Oct. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
Currency traders work near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, Oct. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
Currency traders work at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, Oct. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
