Current:Home > MarketsFrench presidential couple attend funeral service of teacher slain in school attack -Momentum Wealth Path
French presidential couple attend funeral service of teacher slain in school attack
View
Date:2025-04-14 16:02:52
ARRAS, France (AP) — Loved ones and colleagues mourned and celebrated the life of a French-language teacher who was stabbed to death in a school attack blamed on a suspected Islamic extremist. They remembered Dominique Bernard at his funeral service Thursday as a sensitive, crowd-shy man who loved literature, art and nature and was a devoted, playful mentor to his pupils.
French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife, Brigitte, were among mourners at the cathedral in Arras, the northern French town where Bernard taught at the Gambetta-Carnot school. White flowers adorned the coffin. A crowd, with some people clutching white flowers, also watched the service on a giant screen in an Arras square. Bernard was 57.
His wife, Isabelle, described her husband as a great lover of literature, music, art, cinema and “the raking evening light,” who wasn’t fond of computers, crowds and social networks, didn’t have a cellphone and “didn’t like the noise and furor of the world.”
“He deeply loved his daughters, his mother and his sister. We loved one another,” she said.
A colleague recalled that Bernard would tease pupils when he caught them puffing on cigarettes outside the school, jokingly saying: “You smoking a little coffin nail?”
His killing last Friday shocked France and prompted heightened security at schools and other sites. Three other people were injured in the attack.
The alleged attacker was arrested. Identified by prosecutors as Mohammed M., he remains in detention and is under formal investigation for terror-related murder, attempted murder and other charges. France’s anti-terror prosecutor said the suspect declared allegiance to the Islamic State group in an audio message recorded before the attack.
A younger brother, also detained, is under formal investigation for complicity in terror-related murder and other charges. The anti-terror prosecutor said the 16-year-old is suspected of having provided “a certain amount of support” for the attack, of being aware of his older brother’s radicalization and of advising him how to handle knives.
A cousin is also under formal investigation on a charge of failing to prevent a crime.
The investigations allow magistrates more time to gather evidence before an eventual trial.
___
Leicester reported from Le Pecq, France.
veryGood! (3889)
Related
- Dick Vitale announces he is cancer free: 'Santa Claus came early'
- America’s First Offshore Wind Energy Makes Landfall in Rhode Island
- Enbridge Deal Would Replace a Troubled Great Lakes Pipeline, But When?
- Life on an Urban Oil Field
- Pregnant Kylie Kelce Shares Hilarious Question Her Daughter Asked Jason Kelce Amid Rising Fame
- Is 100% Renewable Energy Feasible? New Paper Argues for a Different Target
- Olivia Holt Shares the Products She Uses To Do Her Hair and Makeup on Broadway Including This $7 Pick
- The Dropout’s Amanda Seyfried Reacts to Elizabeth Holmes Beginning 11-Year Prison Sentence
- $73.5M beach replenishment project starts in January at Jersey Shore
- Honda recalls nearly 1.2 million cars over faulty backup camera
Ranking
- What to know about Tuesday’s US House primaries to replace Matt Gaetz and Mike Waltz
- 2 Tennessee inmates who escaped jail through ceiling captured
- Ryan Gosling Responds to Barbie Fans Criticizing His Ken Casting
- Ukraine gets the attention. This country's crisis is the world's 'most neglected'
- $73.5M beach replenishment project starts in January at Jersey Shore
- The Dropout’s Amanda Seyfried Reacts to Elizabeth Holmes Beginning 11-Year Prison Sentence
- Disappearance of Alabama college grad tied to man who killed parents as a boy
- Vaccines could be the next big thing in cancer treatment, scientists say
Recommendation
Off the Grid: Sally breaks down USA TODAY's daily crossword puzzle, Triathlon
4 volunteers just entered a virtual Mars made by NASA. They won't come back for one year.
New federal rules will limit miners' exposure to deadly disease-causing dust
In a Race Against Global Warming, Robins Are Migrating Earlier
Krispy Kreme offers a free dozen Grinch green doughnuts: When to get the deal
Pregnant Serena Williams Shares Hilariously Relatable Message About Her Growing Baby Bump
Honda recalls nearly 1.2 million cars over faulty backup camera
Teresa Giudice Accuses Melissa Gorga of Sending Her to Prison in RHONJ Reunion Shocker