Axe-wielding teenager takes his teacher and schoolmates hostage in France

A high school student has threatened his teacher and classmates with a knife and an axe before taking them hostage in a classroom in a suburb of the French capital, Paris.

The incident took place on Tuesday (18 April), around 10:30 am local time in a classroom at the Lycée Eugénie-Cotton in Montreuil, in the northern suburb Seine-Saint-Denis.

The 17-year-old high school student threatened his teacher and several of his schoolmates with the weapons.

The teacher succeeded in bringing the student to reason, making him drop his weapons after an hour of negotiation.

The student was subsequently arrested before being taken to the police station.

According to Le Parisien newspaper, the teenager may have acted in this way after reading "comments on social networks".

Reeling from a series of terror attacks in the Paris capital and across the nation, France is still is on high-alert.