A 14-year-old student armed with a shotgun on Monday fired at and wounded his principal and a teacher at Joseph Lakanal Middle School in Aubagne, east of Marseille, France.

The police said the 53-year-old principal was shot in the leg and lower back, while the 37-year-old teacher was shot in the thigh; the third person sustained minor injuries.

The teenager, who had hidden the gun in a guitar case, has been detained by the police after a staff member at the Joseph Lakanal middle school disarmed him while roaming on two floors of the school.

Aubagne’s mayor, Jean-Pierre Squillari, confirmed in a Facebook post that the third-year student had been taken into custody.

“All students are safe and well: no child was injured,” he said, noting that all students were immediately secured by teachers and the education team during the incident.

“The principal of the school and a teacher were injured by the gunshots. They were rushed to the hospital by emergency services, and their vital conditions are not critical at this hour. Our warmest thoughts are with them.

“Immediate psychological support: Due to the immense emotional shock of our teenagers, a medical and psychological emergency unit has been activated on site, in conjunction with the rectorate and health services, to listen to and support each student, teacher and member of the educational community,” Mr Squillari said.

Marseille prosecutor Nicolas Bessone said in a statement that the pupil fired once or twice on the first floor of the building, injuring the principal and the teacher, before going to the second floor to shoot twice, first at the floor in front of a teacher and the second in a classroom.

He praised the staff member’s “extreme courage” for later intercepting the boy in a stairwell.

Marseille deputy prosecutor, Audrey Jouaneton, said the victims were hit with pellets used in 12-gauge shotguns, adding that the boy’s motive is yet to be ascertained.

Mrs 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.”

The Marseille prosecutor’s office said an investigation for attempted murder has been launched.

Education Minister Édouard Geffray, in a post on X, described the incident as “unacceptable”, noting that it “highlights the rise of unbridled violence in our society, against which we must all mobilise.”

The incident happened amid protests by high school pupils demanding better-resourced schools.