On Thursday 15 October 2026, the Paul-Éluard lycée in Saint-Denis, “one of the epicentres of the high-school student movement” (translated) (franceinfo), is blockaded again. According to the police prefecture, “nearly 300 students were gathered” (translated) near the lycée in the morning and “several offences were committed against the police officers” (translated): insults, violence against persons holding public authority, possession of an incendiary device (actu.fr). The prefecture does not detail these morning offences, does not say who committed them or whether they are linked to the two injuries described below. The Bobigny public prosecutor tells the AFP that “police officers of the Saint-Denis police station were subjected to insults and violence outside the Paul-Éluard lycée in Saint-Denis in the context of a blockade of the establishment” (translated); “three suspects” (translated) are arrested and a fourth, a minor, “fled inside the establishment” (translated) (actu.fr).
According to the police prefecture, anti-crime brigade officers then enter the lycée “with the agreement of the head of the school” (translated) to “arrest the perpetrator of an insult who had taken refuge within the school grounds” (translated) (franceinfo). According to the public prosecutor’s office, police officers enter with the authorisation of the head of the school and of their superiors in order to “carry out the arrest” (translated) of this fourth individual, a minor, in “an administrative office” (translated); “on leaving the office, the police officers were set upon and jostled by about fifty teachers and staff members who prevented them from leaving the lycée with the arrested minor” (translated); the police officers then decide to release the high-school student in order to “be able to leave safely” (translated) (actu.fr). The prefecture says that they were “prevented by teachers” (translated) and preferred to “withdraw in order to restore calm” (translated) (franceinfo).
The police prefecture tells Actu and RTL that two police officers are injured, one after a punch to the face, the other after a kick to the head, and that they have filed a complaint (actu.fr, RTL); it counts four arrests in total, the public prosecutor’s office three (franceinfo). The press release of the Bobigny public prosecutor’s office on Thursday evening reads: “During this event, the police officers denounce the commission of violence against them by the teachers present and have filed a complaint. They will soon be examined by a doctor” (translated) (franceinfo). No source read says who delivered the punch and the kick, or whether this was outside the lycée or inside; Actu17 brings the two pieces of information together (“Two police officers were injured, one struck by a punch to the face, the other by a kick to the head” (translated)) without further detail.
The staff of the establishment give a completely different version (Actu17). The CGT Educ’action 93 describes an “extremely brutal” (translated) scene and states “that a colleague was strangled and that several received blows” (translated) (franceinfo); a statement from staff members writes that their opposition to the arrest gave rise to “violent reactions on the part of the police, including blows against colleagues” (translated) (actu.fr). Off Investigation, which viewed videos, writes that “the police officers attack several teachers, pushing them and delivering blows to them” (translated). The France 2 TV news report says that “jostling takes place on the stairs. Teachers and police officers come to blows” (translated). No source read says that a video shows the punch or the kick received by the police officers.
Follow-up
The Bobigny public prosecutor’s office opens a flagrante delicto investigation for “violence against persons holding public authority” (translated); three people are arrested during the intervention (franceinfo). No source read mentions an incapacity for work, a medical report, a formal placing under investigation or a judicial decision as of 19 October 2026; the people arrested are presumed innocent. The lycée is closed on Thursday afternoon and remains so on Friday, with classes held remotely (rectorat, franceinfo).