Four suspects arrested in connection with beheading of French teacher

The police in France have arrested four suspects including a minor in connection with the beheading of a French teacher, who had recently shown students cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed, outside his school on Friday.

French police say the assailant, whose identity has not been established, was shot by police as they tried to arrest him and later died of injuries he sustained during a shootout in the Conflans Sainte-Honorine suburb of Paris.

A police official – speaking on the condition of anonymity said the suspect, armed with a knife and an airsoft gun, was shot by police about 600 metres (656 yards) from where the male middle school teacher was killed.

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French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday described the incident as a “terrorist attack”.

Macron and Prime Minister Jean Castex visited Conflans Saint-Honorine hours after the attack took place, as government officials convened a crisis meeting to discuss the case.

“One of our citizens was assassinated today because he was teaching, because he was teaching pupil’s freedom of expression,” Macron said.

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