An Irish professor who taught English at a university in the suburbs of Paris was stabbed to death by a former student of Pakistani origin outside the establishment on Wednesday afternoon.
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The 66-year-old John Dowling was repeatedly stabbed in the neck as he was leaving the university for lunch by the 37-year-old man, who was arrested at the scene.
"It's a tragedy that affects the entire community. He was a language teacher who had been here for 20 years and was appreciated by everyone", the head of the university Pascal Brouaye said, adding that Dowling was about to retire.
A university administration official said that the perpetrator had normal grades the first semester, but he failed the exams in the second semester, and was therefore expelled in August 2017.
The official also said that this student was "unhappy to have been expelled", but insisted they were not aware of any "particular threat".
The French Minister for Higher Education Frédérique Vidal said: "Emotion and indignation as a professor has just been murdered at the Léonard-de-Vinci university centre. We need to find out the circumstances surrounding his death during the investigation being conducted by the judicial police".
