French politicians on Sunday reacted with outrage to a video of a teenager in a tough Paris suburb threatening his teacher with a fake gun, reports FRANCE 24.
The incident, which was filmed and uploaded onto social media by one of the teen's classmates, took place Thursday at a high school in the southeastern suburb of Créteil.
In the video the 15-year-old can be seen standing over the seated teacher, brandishing a weapon that turned out to be an air gun.
"You've marked me absent. Mark me as present," he shouts as another student tries to plead his case with the teacher, who appears more weary than panicked and continues working on her laptop while exchanging a few inaudible remarks with the class.
On Friday she filed a police complaint over the incident, which was condemned by President Emmanuel Macron and members of his cabinet as well as the right-wing opposition.
Education minister Jean-Michel Blanquer and interior minister Christophe Castaner said in a joint statement Sunday they would convene a top-level meeting next week to discuss ways to end violence in schools in low-income city suburbs.
"School is the cradle of the Republic and it is where we learn to respect the Republic," Castaner said during a visit to a police station in eastern Paris, vowing to "recapture the Republic square metre by square metre" from lawless elements.