Friday October 13, 2023, a French teacher in his fifties died stabbed to the cry of“God is great” in front of a high school in Arras (Pas-de-Calais), while he intervened in front of the assailant armed with a bladed weapon. Two people were injured, while the terrorist, a 20-year-old former student, was arrested. Head teacher of a third grade class, the victim, Dominique Bernard, had spent his entire career in the North, reports Le Figaro that same day. A graduate of modern literature, this literature enthusiast taught French in a fifth grade class. Father of three student daughters, the northerner of origin shared his life with his wife, mother of his children, an English teacher in another high school in the same department. His death comes only three days before the commemorations of the assassination of Samuel Paty, professor of history and geography, beheaded on October 16, 2023 in front of his high school in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine (Yvelines), after having illustrated a course on freedom of expression with caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad.
A technical agent between life and death after the attack on Arras high school
As the complete The Parisian, two other people were injured in the attack at the Gambetta high school in Arras. A sports teacher was reportedly hit in the face while fighting with the shooter, registered S for radicalization, in the courtyard of the school, but his vital prognosis was not in jeopardy. A technical agent, very seriously injured by several stab wounds, is said to be between life and death after being attacked by the terrorist. According to The worldit would be “in a state of absolute emergency”. No high school students were injured during the intrusion. “We were leaving class to go to the canteen, we saw the guy with two knives attacking the teacher who had blood on him. He tried to calm him down and protect us,” told middle school students from 3rd to The voice of the North. “He attacked canteen staff, I wanted to go down to intervene, he turned to me, chased me and asked me if I was a history and geography teacher”, for his part testified a professor of philosophy, Martin Dousseau. The main suspect was tasered and arrested, while the National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor’s Office (PNAT) opened an investigation for “assassination in connection with a terrorist enterprise”.