Montreal police had one teenager in custody Thursday morning after a teacher at John F. Kennedy High School on Villeray St. was stabbed during an altercation with a student.
Montreal police spokesperson Jean-Pierre Brabant said it happened inside the school at around 10:10 a.m. when an altercation between a student and a teacher escalated.
“The student stabbed the teacher at least once to the upper body,” Brabant said, adding the injuries were superficial.
The teacher, a man in his 40s, was taken to hospital for treatment.
No other injuries were reported.
In Quebec City, Public Security Minister Geneviève Guilbault and Education Minister Jean-François Roberge expressed their shock over the stabbing. Guilbault called it disturbing.
“As I always said, when a gun or a knife or any weapon comes into the hands of a young girl or a young man, it becomes a problem, a matter of public safety. It is because we have failed as a society to prevent that and to act preventively,” Guilbault said. “That’s why we put $52 million in prevention, so people can work with young people to prevent that kind of violence.”
Roberge said he was relieved that the teacher wasn’t seriously injured. He said he is working with the English Montreal School Board to provide social and psychological support for staff and students.