A teacher was killed on Friday after she was stabbed in front of her students by a pupil's mother at Edouard Herriot primary school in Albi, south of France.

Albi prosecutor Claude Derens, who was one of the first on the scene, said that the mother had brought a knife and stabbed the victim multiple times.

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"When I arrived at the scene there were trying to revive her. She was in cardiac arrest in her classroom," he said.

It is not known whether the suspect was a mother of one of the teachers' students.

The motive for the crime was also not disclosed, but local media said the suspect had yelled "I am not a thief" shortly before she stabbed the victim.

The suspect - who was immediately arrested on the scene - was known by the local police for previous allegations of child neglect.

According to BBC, students who saw the crime had been aged fix to six.

The incident occurred early Friday morning on the last day of school of before the term officially ended for the summer.

President Francois Hollande expressed outrage over the incident and described it as "abominable." He said the government will take responsibility for the treatment of those who witnessed the crime.

"All state services will be mobilized to take care of these children and the staff who witnessed this awful tragedy," he said.

Education Minister Benoit Hamon also rushed to the scene to assess the situation.

A statement released by the ministry said that the "tragedy" underscores the country's need to make reforms address the violence in schools "to protect schools, teachers and students."

There has been growing concern in France over attacks to school teachers by students' parents. A recent study found that about 50 percent of school administrators had been abused - physically or verbally - by parents, according to the Associated Press.

The Edouard Herriot primary school currently has 284 enrolled students aged three to 11.

TagsAlbi, Francois Hollande, Benoit Hamon, Claude Derens, Edouard Herriot primary school, school attack