Teenager Asked Pupils to Identify French Teacher Before Beheading Him

People gather in front of the Bois d'Aulne college after the attack in the Paris suburb of Conflans St Honorine, France, on Oct. 17, 2020. Charles Platiau/Reuters

PARIS/CONFLANS-SAINTE-HONORINE, France—The teenager who beheaded a teacher outside the school in a Paris suburb where he taught had approached pupils in the street and asked them to point out his victim, anti-terrorism prosecutor Jean-Francois Ricard said on Saturday.

Police shot dead the 18-year-old attacker, who was born in Russia, minutes after he murdered 47-year-old history teacher Samuel Paty in broad daylight in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine on Friday.