Murder of Agnès Lassalle

On 22 February 2023, schoolteacher Agnès Lassalle was stabbed to death by a 16-year-old student while teaching a Spanish lesson at Saint-Thomas-d'Aquin high school in Saint-Jean-de-Luz, France.^[1]

Agnès Lassalle had worked at the private Catholic school since 1997.^[2]

Around 10 a.m. at Saint-Thomas-d'Aquin high school during Spanish class, the murderer suddenly stood up, blocked the classroom door, and stabbed his teacher.^[3] Emergency services arrived but the victim died at the scene.^[4] "He was very calm", confided one of the teenage girls present in the room.^[5] The students fled the classroom.^[6] The suspected perpetrator went to an adjoining room where he was detained by teachers before being apprehended by the police. He was not known to the police.^[7]

The following day, a minute of silence in tribute to Agnès Lasalle was observed in all French schools.^[8][9] During Agnès Lasalle's funeral, her husband, Stéphane Voirin, danced in her honor in front of her coffin.^[10][11] He has campaigned against violence in schools.^[12] In February 2025, the court decided that the murderer would be tried before a cour d'assises.^[13] In June 2025, the court refused a new psychiatric evaluation of the teenager.^[14]

A year after the murder, a commemorative plaque was placed in the garden of the Peyuco-Duhart cultural center in Saint-Jean-de-Luz.^[10][15] In 2024, Eddy de Pretto wrote a tribute song, Urgence 911, which was inspired by the dance of Agnès Lassalle's husband.^{[16][17][18][19]} In 2025, Julien Clerc sang the song Les Parvis, inspired by the same event.^[20]

• List of major crimes in France (2000–present)
• Murder of Ann Maguire, murder of a schoolteacher in England