Mother of schoolchild committed for trial for attempted murder of school principal in Nice
A 36-year-old woman pointed a firearm at the director of a nursery school on Monday morning. She was remanded in custody after admitting the facts during police questioning.
Committed for trial for attempted murder
According to Actu17, a 36-year-old mother of a schoolchild was committed for trial on Wednesday for "attempted murder of a teacher or any member of staff working in an educational establishment". The Public Prosecutor of Nice, Damien Martinelli, announced her remand in custody. She faces several other charges: unlawful arrest, kidnapping, unlawful confinement, arbitrary detention, unlawful possession of weapons, fraudulent possession of administrative documents, and attempted escape.
Monday morning's events
The incident occurred on Monday morning at the Clément-Roassal nursery school, where two of her children are enrolled. The suspect allegedly pointed a firearm at the principal in her office for approximately one hour, accusing her of sexual assault against one of her children. "She repeatedly picked up her weapon and worked the trigger whilst pointing it at her, without any shot being fired, and specifying that she only had two bullets," the public prosecutor's office detailed.
According to the prosecutor, she then placed a knife against the principal's cheek before slapping a teacher and pointing the weapon at her as she left the establishment. The medical examiner determined temporary work incapacity of one day for the principal and two days for the teacher.
Arrest and searches
Officers from the SLPJ in Nice arrested the woman quickly at her home as part of a flagrant offence investigation. During searches, investigators found a Laguiole-type knife and the waterproof jacket worn during the incident in her letterbox. Several passports were discovered at her home, some of which appeared to be fraudulent. During her transfer to the police station, the suspect attempted to escape from the vehicle.
"Examination of her telephone revealed a partial recording of the events that tended to support the victims' statements," Damien Martinelli continued. The weapon visible in the video appeared to be an automatic pistol. The principal stated in her interview that she perceived it to be made of metal. The weapon was not recovered, as the suspect did not precisely indicate where she had disposed of it.
Evolution of statements during police custody
During police custody, the mother of four initially denied any violence, only acknowledging that she had gone to the school and spoken with the principal. Her version evolved during a second interview: she admitted having entrusted her children to an acquaintance and gone to the school with a knife and a handgun which she said she had purchased two days earlier. She specified that she had intended to frighten the principal given her child's statements leading her to believe he had been a victim of sexual assault.
She admitted to working the weapon several times, stating that she believed it to be empty, but denied pointing her knife at the principal's face and said she did not remember being violent. She eventually expressed remorse. "Regarding the sexual assault accusations made by the accused, no previous complaint or report was recorded," the prosecutor emphasised. The psychiatric examination carried out during her police custody revealed no necessity for hospitalisation.
Administrative situation and monitoring
Born in 1990 in Tunisia, the woman was in an irregular immigration situation. She was deported to Tunisia in June 2019 following an obligation to leave French territory (OQTF), according to the prosecutor's office. An administrative ban from the territory was imposed on her in December 2019 and notified following her conviction in 2023 for assisting unlawful entry.
According to the prosecutor, she was granted refugee status in 2022 by the Italian authorities after entering that country in November 2020. She is the mother of four children born between 2008 and 2022; the youngest, born in Nice, holds French nationality. Since late 2023, she had been subject to ministerial house arrest, involving a daily reporting obligation and confiscation of her passport.
Monitoring for radicalisation
According to Nice-Matin, she was reported in 2019, which led to her registration on the File for processing reports for the prevention of terrorism-related radicalisation (FSPRT). The prosecutor confirmed that "she was also subject to monitoring on the grounds of radicalisation". She is also known to the intelligence services, according to France Inter.
Questioned on Tuesday during questions to the government in the National Assembly, Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez declared: "Obviously, this assault is intolerable." He specified that "she benefits from protections, being the parent of a child with French nationality" and confirmed the suspect's irregular immigration situation.
Source: Actu17