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A principal and two others have been shot by a student at a high school in southern France, police say.
The armed 17-year-old — identified as the son of an ultra-conservative local councillor — was arrested after the shooting, which happened at the Alexis de Tocqueville school in the town of Grasse, about 40 kilometres from the southern city of Nice.
France's Government sent out a mobile phone app alert warning of a possible terrorist attack after police initially reported that shots had been fired.
But authorities have since said they believe there is no reason to suspect the attack was related to terrorism.
A police official said in addition to the three wounded in the shooting, five other people were being treated for shock. None of the injuries were life-threatening.
The official, who was not authorised to be publicly named, said there did not appear to be any other suspects, but police were working to "remove all doubt".
Police cordoned off the area and worried residents gathered outside, along with several emergency vehicles.
An employee of a nearby electronics store, who would not provide his name, said police had asked residents to stay indoors.
The Government's alert warning came via a system implemented after the deadly November 2015 attacks in Paris.
The incident provoked shock around the country, where school shootings are rare.
Examination of the attacker's social media profiles showed he was fascinated with the 1999 Columbine high school massacre in the United States.
The background photo of the young man's YouTube page showed a picture of the Columbine shooting and posts a link to American rapper Ill Bill's song The Anatomy Of A School Shooting.
His Facebook page carried several violent and morbid pictures, screenshots of a video of the Columbine shooting and a video of a man with a ghoulish mask shooting an unloaded handgun at the audience and then shooting himself in the head.
France's BFM TV station reported he had posted a photo last week of several young people lying in a pool of blood on a Facebook group for his class at the Lycee Alexis de Tocqueville.
When his classmates told him it was not funny and that they were shocked, he reportedly said it was "just a joke".
Jean-Rene Laget, a member of the same small right-wing party as the youth's father, said that as far as he knew the young man had never caused any trouble before.
"He is a totally normal young man who made no waves, a bit timid. Nobody would have thought he would be able to do something like that," he said.
France remains tense and under a state of emergency after several deadly Islamic extremist attacks over the past two years.
At least 84 people were killed when a truck ploughed into a crowd celebrating Bastille Day last July in Nice.
AP
Topics: crime, unrest-conflict-and-war, france
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