Man shoots himself dead in front of schoolchildren in France

French police say that a man entered the courtyard of a private Roman Catholic school in the upscale 7th district of Paris and killed himself with a sawn-off shotgun, shooting himself in the head in front of about a dozen children.

The man’s motive remained unclear and his identity was not immediately made known, although the police did say he was about 50.

The school caters to children from nursery to high school, according to preliminary reports. It is on the Left Bank near the fashionable Rue Cler and close to landmarks such as the Eiffel Tower and he Hotel des Invalides.

The incident stunned the usually tranquil neighbourhood as parents and police officers converged on the school. French news channels showed video of a shocked-looking child who said the man shot himself.

Authorities sent a team of psychological counsellors to the school. Education minister Vincent Peillon returned to Paris quickly from a EU ministerial meeting in Brussels and visited the school.

News reports said the man lived in the area and had entered the school courtyard just before noon as children had finished morning classes. He shot himself after pushing past two school employees who challenged him, the reports said. – ( New York Times service)