Heavily-armed teen wounds four at French high school

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Four people were wounded after a heavily-armed teenage student, fascinated by mass shooting videos, stormed a high school in Grasse, south France, on Thursday, French Education Minister Najat Vallaud-Belkacem said.

Visiting the shooting site, the minister described the attack as "a crazy act by a fragile young man fascinated by firearms."

"We avoided the worst," she added.

Four people including the headmaster suffered slight injuries while ten other students were wounded during a stampede following the shooting, according to the minister.

The 17-year-old student of the Tocqueville high school, who was carrying a rifle, two handguns and two grenades, was arrested.

Grasse prosecutor Fabienne Atzori said the shooting appeared not to be linked with terrorism.

"The shooter's motivations appear to be related to the bad relations that he would have with other students of this high school. It seems that he has some difficulties to integrate," she told reporters.

The teenager, not known to police services, was placed in custody on charges of attempted assassination, she added.

During a visit to Correze, southwest France, French President Francois Hollande called for vigilance to ensure safety as the terror alert level remains high.

"The investigation is ongoing. Even if there is no direct link with a terrorist organization, we remain extremely vigilant," he said.

Hollande imposed a state of emergency in the wake of the Paris attacks in November 2015, added the emergency would be prolonged until mid-July.

In a separate incident in Paris earlier on Thursday, a female worker at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) office had been wounded in her hands and face after she opened an envelop bomb sent by mail.

Anti-terrorism prosecutors in Paris have opened an investigation into the incident.

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