Although no information about the student’s background was released and the education minister said it was too early to discern a motive, some right-wing figures commented on the event in political terms.
Eric Ciotti, the leader of the mainstream conservative party Les Republicains, tweeted that the country’s teachers were “on the front lines” of French society’s “ensauvagement” — a favored dog whistle of France’s far right that is used to imply that the nation is turning savage through immigration.
Saint-Jean-de-Luz is an upscale seaside town near the Spanish border and is historically known as the site of King Louis XIV’s wedding to his first wife, Maria Theresa of Spain. The population of 14,000 swells during summers with vacationers who come for the beaches, as well as Parisians who own vacation homes there.
“It’s totally shocking. It’s a town where not much happens,” Mr. Hiribarren, the former student, said.
The school, Saint Thomas d’Aquin, located in the town’s center, is known for its academic excellence, educating students beginning in the French equivalent of sixth grade.
“This is a dreadful tragedy that happened in a serene school with no particular record of violence or facts that could have predicted what we just witnessed,” said Mr. Ndiaye, the education minister.
Two students who rushed from the premises after witnessing the killing told the local South West newspaper that their teacher had been in the middle of a Spanish class when a fellow student stabbed her in the chest. She screamed, then went silent, they said.
Other students were confined to their classrooms for a number of hours before being slowly released to their parents, who were waiting outside, Agence France-Presse reported. A counseling team was dispatched to the school on Wednesday to tend to students and teachers, Mr. Ndiaye said.
