Teacher killed, four wounded in attack on Barcelona school

Reports say perpetrator used crossbow in attack on school in Sant Andreu region

Spanish policemen outside the highschool Instituto Joan Foster after an attack which killed a teacher in Barcelona on Monday. Photograph: Toni Garriga/EPA.
Spanish policemen outside the highschool Instituto Joan Foster after an attack which killed a teacher in Barcelona on Monday. Photograph: Toni Garriga/EPA.

A 13-year-old boy has been arrested after a teacher was killed and others injured at a school in Barcelona.

Police would not confirm whether the unidentified boy was a student at the school in a working class Barcelona neighbourhood where the attack took place.

Spokesmen confirmed the teacher was killed with a weapon that had a blade. Spanish National Television and other media outlets reported that the boy was carrying a knife and a crossbow.

Two other teachers and two students were also said to have suffered minor injuries in the attack.

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The attack took place at a public high school for students aged 12 to 16. After the attack, parents and students gathered outside the school in stunned silence, hugging each other.

A spokesman for regional police said it was too early to determine whether the incident — a very rare event in the country — was an attempt to copy the April 20th, 1999 attack in Columbine, Colorado, that saw 12 students and one teacher killed.

PA