French Police Pause Stun Grenades After Student Loses Hand in High School Protests

France’s Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez ordered a temporary halt on the use of stun grenades in the policing of high-school protests after a 15-year-old boy in Lens lost his hand during clashes on Monday, October 5. Nuñez said there was a strong possibility that a stun grenade caused the injury and that the devices would not be used against the student movement until the case is investigated. The boy’s hand was amputated; his mother told television that his life had been stolen.

The protests began in late September in the northern suburbs of Paris and spread to hundreds of schools nationwide. Students are demanding more education funding, smaller classes, better-maintained buildings and shorter school days. Many demonstrations have been peaceful, but others have involved barricades, fireworks and confrontations with police. Authorities report that 6,877 people have been arrested since the unrest began, the large majority of them minors. On one day alone, October 1, police made 1,949 arrests, exceeding the single-day record from the Yellow Vest period.

Reuters documented 28 cases of injuries linked to police force, 15 of which are under investigation by the IGPN police inspectorate. Injuries include a 14-year-old in the Paris suburbs who suffered a broken jaw and lost multiple teeth after being struck by a tear-gas canister at close range; a 16-year-old in Tours who lost the use of an eye in an incident consistent with a rubber bullet; and the Lens case. Interior Ministry figures list roughly 200 students and 89 school staff injured, while about 700 police officers have also been wounded. Schools have been burned or vandalized, and teachers and members of the public have been attacked.

Nuñez rejected accusations of systematic police brutality, stating that officers do not intervene when protests remain peaceful and that their primary role is to protect high-school students. Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu described the demonstrations as the most violent in decades and noted the heavy toll on the school system, including thousands of hours of classes lost. Education Minister Édouard Geffray called the underlying demands legitimate but said no demand justifies violence. Amnesty International and several unions have accused police of disproportionate force, including the use of choke holds, direct firing of tear-gas canisters and rubber bullets against adolescents as young as 14.

Eighteen internal police investigations have been launched. The officer who fired the tear-gas canister that shattered the 14-year-old’s jaw was later taken into custody and charged with violent mutilation. On Thursday police used tear gas against students barricading a high school in northeastern Paris. University campuses, including Sciences Po, saw largely peaceful blockades. Teachers’ unions backed further strike action.

The protests reflect longer-term declines in French teenagers’ reading and mathematics scores and persistent inequalities in school infrastructure. The government’s decision to pause stun grenades addresses one specific weapon after a high-profile injury, but the broader debate over the scale of arrests and the use of intermediate force against minors continues. Further investigations by the IGPN and any changes in operational guidance will shape how authorities manage the remaining demonstrations.