Police officer wounded by mortar blast during Marseille school protest
A 51-year-old police officer was hit in the head by a mortar round while securing a student demonstration outside the Saint-Exupéry high school in northern Marseille.
During a Monday morning demonstration by high-school pupils in front of the Saint-Exupéry lycée in Marseille’s 15th district, a 51-year-old officer from the groupe de sécurité et de proximité was struck by a mortar shell that penetrated his helmet. He sustained wounds to his neck, trapezius, a bleeding ear wound and a scalp burn, but stayed conscious and was transported to a hospital. Emergency marins-pompiers treated him on site.
Police sources said the projectile passed beneath the helmet and caused temporary hearing loss. Prefect Jacques Witkowski and police delegate Corinne Simon denounced the assault and pledged support for the officer, while noting that the perpetrator remains unknown. The attack echoes previous violence at the same school, including a fire-truck set alight and a journalist injured earlier in October.
Why it matters
It highlights escalating violence against police during French school protests, raising public safety concerns.
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