Teenager claimed responsibility for beheading of French teacher before being shot

Girls light candles outside the school where a history teacher was working in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, northwest of Paris (Michel Euler/AP)

A suspect shot dead by police after the beheading of a history teacher near Paris was an 18-year-old Chechen refugee unknown to intelligence services who posted a grisly claim of responsibility on social media minutes after the attack, officials said.

France’s anti-terrorism prosecutor’s office said authorities investigating the killing of Samuel Paty in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine on Friday arrested nine suspects, including the teenager’s grandfather, parents and 17-year-old brother.