French anti-terrorism prosecutor takes over investigation into school shooting

The ​French anti-terrorism prosecutor has taken ‌over ​an investigation into a school shooting after an initial probe found the 14-year-old suspect appeared to ‌belong to a group called the True Crime Community.

A pupil at a school near the southern city of Marseille shot and wounded ‌two teachers on Monday with a hunting rifle that had been ‌hidden in a guitar case, causing panic as children ran for cover, officials said. The anti-terrorism prosecutor's office said on Tuesday the Marseille Prosecutor's Office had decided ⁠to ​relinquish jurisdiction for the ⁠case.

"Initial investigations, including an analysis of the minor's digital devices, indicate probable affiliation ⁠with the True Crime Community (TCC) movement and suggest that the criminal act committed ​at his school was motivated by this ideology," the prosecutor said ⁠in a statement on Tuesday. "The TCC is an ecosystem of online communities that glorifies ⁠perpetrators ​of mass killings and, in certain ways, incites the use of extreme violence," it added.

It said it had opened ⁠investigations into charges of "attempted murder in connection with a terrorist enterprise, participation ⁠in a ⁠terrorist criminal conspiracy with the intent to commit crimes against persons, and violations of weapons laws in connection ‌with a ‌terrorist enterprise."