PARIS, Dec. 15 (UPI) — The French teacher who falsely claimed to be a victim of an Islamic State attack at a Paris preschool has been suspended and is in a psychiatric hospital.
The 45-year-old Jean-Perrin preschool teacher said he stabbed himself in the side and neck with box cutters on Monday, previously claiming he was attacked by an Islamic State supporter. He was later taken to a local hospital.
The man said he was attacked at the school in the Parisian suburb of Aubervilliers at about 7:10 a.m. local time by an unarmed man who wore a balaclava head covering and used classroom objects to launch the assault. A manhunt for the suspect was launched. No children were present at the time, and classes were canceled.
After the teacher admitted he lied, the education ministry suspended him from his duties. A psychiatric examination found that the teacher’s “judgement had been impaired and that he was not in a fit state to be in custody,” French prosecutors said, BBC News reported.
The teacher with 20 years’ experience may have been trying to get out of upcoming inspections, The Local reported. He reportedly was known for calling in sick for inspections in the past.
Authorities found several elements of the teacher’s initial story suspicious — closed-circuit television footage showed no intruder was on the scene, the teacher was at the school much earlier than most teachers and students would arrive, and that the attacker yelled “This is for Daesh” — another word used for the Islamic State, which the militant Islamist group finds offensive.
France remains on high alert after the Nov. 13 Islamic State attacks in Paris that left at least 130 people dead.
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