"If the suspect failed to find out the teacher's name, the name and address of the school, he would not have had the opportunity to establish his identity. And this became possible only thanks to the students of this school," Jean-Francois Ricard said, as quoted by Le Figaro newspaper.
Ricard noted that the killer had offered students between 300 and 350 euros ($350 to $415) for information about the teacher.
Last week, history teacher Samuel Paty was beheaded by an 18-year-old teenager in the outskirts of Paris after he showed cartoons depicting the prophet Muhammad during a lesson, which had prompted outrage among some Muslim parents. The suspect, the French teenager of Chechen descent, was subsequently shot dead by police. An inquiry is still underway, with seven suspects, including schoolchildren, being tried on Wednesday.
French President Emmanuel Macron declared the attack a terrorist act and unveiled a strategy to combat the spread of radical Islam. He has ordered a tightening of security measures in French schools after the fall break and dissolution of groups spreading ideas linked to radical Islam.