Grasse: French police arrested a heavily armed 17-year-old after he opened fire at a school in southern France, rattling nerves in a country on edge after several jihadist attacks, authorities said.


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Following the shooting, schools in Grasse were placed under lockdown.


A crisis cell has been put in place after the attack at the Tocqueville high school, education official Emmanuel Ethis said on Twitter.


Meanwhile, a 17-year-old student was said to be armed with a rifle, two handguns and two grenades, Reuters quoted a police source, as saying.


"The individual does not seem to be known by police," the source said.


An interior ministry spokesman said eight people, including the principal, were injured. Some were hurt in a stampede triggered by the attack.


The suspect, who has not been named publicly, had shared pictures and videos on social media of infamous US school shootings, including the 1999 Columbine massacre.


The head of the regional government, Christian Estrosi, told AFP that the shooting was "not at all" being seen as a terror attack and that the shooter appeared to have "psychological problems".


The head teacher was admitted to the local hospital with gunshot wounds to the arm and three pupils were treated for buckshot injuries, the hospital's director Frederic Limouzy said.


Investigators initially said they were looking for an accomplice but a police source later said the shooter, who was not previously known to the authorities, appeared to have acted alone.


(With Agency inputs)