France halts use of stun grenades after boy's hand blown off in student protests

7 October 2026, 10: 56 BST. Updated 10 minutes ago.

Key points

• Students' unions put the number at 450, 000 and say a fourth round of protests is planned for Thursday in Paris and other cities.
• According to the local prefect, the incident took place when police were confronted by a group of 200-250 students throwing stones and fireworks.
• More than 6, 500 individuals have been ceased or arrested in that time, according to the interior ministry.
• The head of the USL high school union, Ryad Rani, informed French radio on Wednesday: We are telling M.
• Nuñez informed French radio RTL that police watchdog IGPN had opened 18 investigations to determine whether officers had been "proportionate" during the demonstrations.

After a 15-year-old's hand was blown off earlier this week, france has suspended the employ of stun grenades for policing student protests that have swept the country.

Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez remarked he had requested the pause until the facts of Monday's incident in Lens had been "clarified", with conflicting accounts offered by protesters and office-holders. A number of groups have complained of police using disproportionate force towards teenagers.

Meanwhile, the disruption continued on Wednesday with more than 500 schools fully or partially shut, and Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu is due to speak regarding the school protests in an evening address.

Hundreds of thousands of individuals took to the streets on Tuesday to call for better school conditions and in some cities tear gas and water cannon were deployed. The interior ministry remarked 488 residents were arrested and 43 members of the security forces were hurt.

Nuñez informed French radio RTL that police watchdog IGPN had opened 18 investigations to determine whether officers had been "proportionate" during the demonstrations. It have spread from high school pupils to their parents, university students and unions.

"There is a police action that raises questions for all of us within the Ministry of the Interior; it's what happened in Lens, " he remarked, and confirmed the apply of stun grenades was being suspended "until the facts surrounding this case have been clarified".

For context, the 15-year-old boy's hand was torn off after a so-called anti-encirclement grenade was fired in unclear circumstances near the Auguste Béhal high school in the northern city near Lille.

Authorities have remarked he picked up the grenade which then exploded, but students have alleged he was hit directly after an officer fired.

In practice, the stun grenade is considered a non-lethal weapon, but sends out small rubber pellets when it detonates.

"When there is suspicion of disproportionate force, there are always judicial investigations, " Nuñez remarked, affirming that the administration was "here to protect high school students".

Reservations have additionally been stoked by the case of a 14-year-old hit in the face with a tear gas grenade last week. The boy's lawyer remarked he had lost a number of teeth and suffered a fractured jaw in the incident at Saint-Ouen-l'Aumône, north-west of Paris, and a police officer has been charged.

Meanwhile, prosecutors remarked on Wednesday that an investigation for attempted murder had been opened after a 17-year-old student protester complained an officer "held his head underwater" while trying to arrest him near a river in the north-eastern city of Belfort.

In practice, the prime minister has condemned violence seen at some of the protests which began in mid-September – noting on Tuesday that 215 students, 85 staff, and 715 police officers had since been hurt.

President Emmanuel Macron held an emergency session late on Tuesday with Lecornu and other key ministers to find a way out of the crisis after almost a quarter of all lycées were disrupted by the day's protests – with administration figures putting the number of protesters at more than 250, 000.

Notably, the head of the USL high school union, Ryad Rani, informed French radio on Wednesday: "We are telling M. Nuñez, calm your police officers down and call for restraint."

In short, france halts use of stun grenades after boy' s hand blown off in is the central thread here, and readers can expect follow-up reporting as the picture becomes clearer.