ARRAS (France), Oct 16 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Schools across France will on Monday hold a minute of silence for the teacher stabbed to death in what President Emmanuel Macron called an act of “terror”.
The nationwide tribute will come a day after thousands gathered in Arras, northeastern France to pay their respects to 57-year-old Dominique Bernard.
His killing on Friday has sent shockwaves through the country and led to calls for tighter security at schools. The government has already put the country on high alert and deployed 7,000 troops.
The attack in Arras, home to large Jewish and Muslim populations, came against a backdrop of growing conflict in the Middle East.
The suspected perpetrator, a 20-year-old Russian man, has been arrested for the killing and for having also seriously wounded three others at the school he used to attend.
“Arras is being tested, but Arras is standing … we are standing,” mayor Frederic Leturque told a crowd of more than 5,000 people gathered in the central square Sunday.
The attack came almost three years to the day after the Oct 16, 2020 beheading of teacher Samuel Paty near his school in a Paris suburb.
Monday’s minute of silence in French schools will take place at 2pm.
Education Minister Gabriel Attal told broadcaster TF1 Sunday that local authorities would meet next week to discuss security at schools. He suggested they should “go further” in providing security guards and video surveillance.
Nine people were still in custody Sunday, including suspected perpetrator Mohammed Moguchkov, born in Russia’s North Caucasus republic of Ingushetia. According to a police source, he arrived in France aged five. — NNN-AGENCIES
