A French school employee was stabbed to death by a 15-year-old student during a bag check, the gendarmerie said Tuesday.

A police officer assisting with the checks was also slightly injured in the incident, which occurred at a school in Nogent, northeastern France.

"While watching over our children in Nogent, an educational assistant lost her life, the victim of a senseless wave of violence," French President Emmanuel Macron wrote on social media.

"The nation is in mourning and the government is mobilized to reduce crime," he added. 

The 31-year-old teaching assistant was stabbed multiple times as classes began. The suspected attacker was subdued by gendarmes, according to education officials.

The student, who had no criminal record, was taken into custody.

Education Minister Elisabeth Borne was en route to Nogent "to support the entire school community and the police."

Although fatal school attacks remain rare in France, growing concerns over violence have led the Education Ministry to implement bag checks at some schools this year.

Over a two-month period this spring, a total of 186 knives were confiscated during these checks, and 32 individuals were detained, the Interior Ministry reported Tuesday.

"The threat of bladed weapons among our children has become critical. It is up to us to make this widespread scourge a public enemy," Prime Minister Francois Bayrou wrote on X following Tuesday's attack.

Edited by: Kieran Burke