French students return to school after hostage siege

Shaken students met with psychologists today at the French school where a former teacher held 23 people hostage for several hours.

The hostage-taker, 33-year-old Nicolas Vilpail, had surrendered to police and was in custody in La Fleche, about 140 miles south-west of Paris, police said. He was expected to undergo a psychiatric evaluation.

The Colbert de Torcy High School opened as usual this morning, but only a few students trickled in, said rector Philippe Ravaz. Police remained stationed outside the school.

Instead of attending regular classes, students and teachers met informally to talk about the events, and psychologists met with individual students, Ravaz said. He said the atmosphere was calm, even if a few students remained shaken.

Vilpail calmly entered the school yesterday afternoon, then pulled out a gun that fires rubber bullets and took a class of 21 students, between 16 and 18 years old, and two teachers’ aides hostage. He surrendered peacefully after several hours of negotiations involving an intervention force.

Vilpail had worked at the school until two years ago, then resigned from the national education system in November, Education Minister Gilles de Robien said today.

Robien said Vilpail had suffered from “personal problems” for some time. Former colleagues described him as “adrift”.