Hostage drama
December 13, 2010
Police have arrested a 17-year-old who took a class full of children hostage in a French nursery school.
The teenager old was armed with two swords, and initially had taken some 20 students and a teacher hostage. He later released the teacher and fifteen of the children.
After police specialists stormed the building, the teenager released the remaining hostages and surrendered.
Authorities confirmed the hostage taking was over and the teenager in police custody.
The youth "went into the establishment armed with two swords and declaring that he wanted something," without specifying what it was, the city’s mayor Jean-Louis Fousseret told reporters.
According to the local police department the teenager has asked for a gun with which to take his own life.
The young man was known to have been suffering from psychological problems and depression, Jean-Marc Magda, administrative head of the mayor’s office told Reuters news agency.
Education Minister Luc Chatel was at the nursery, which was cordoned off from the public. Other children and nursery teachers had been evacuated and taken to a nearby school.
Author: Andreas Illmer (dpa, AFP, Reuters)
Editor: Rob Turner