Three high school students aged 15, 16, and 17 were taken into police custody on October 2, 2026, after allegedly using Snapchat to organize violent disruptions and coordinate attacks involving mortar fire and trash can fires at the Gabriel Fauré high school in Annecy, ledauphine.com reported.
Snapchat Coordination and the October 15 Blockade Plan
The investigation centers on a digital group created on Snapchat on September 28. Within this channel, participants conspired to enforce a complete blockade of the Gabriel Fauré high school scheduled for Thursday, October 15. The chat logs revealed explicit calls to action urging members to bring and use commercial mortars, tear gas canisters, and to ignite trash can fires outside the school gates.
High school administrators across the Haute-Savoie department have increased digital and physical vigilance amidst a sustained wave of student protests. Monitoring instant messaging networks has become a primary operational lever for school principals seeking to intercept violent confrontations before they materialize at school entrances.
A similar digital patrol recently occurred at the Jean-Monnet high school in Annemasse, where the principal’s swift escalation to the public prosecutor resulted in two minors being placed in custody over a WhatsApp group organizing a violent demonstration.
Police Identification and Legal Consequences
Investigators bypassed anonymity barriers by tracking the specific user pseudonyms deployed within the Snapchat group. This digital footprint allowed police to pinpoint and identify the three teenage suspects, who reside locally in Lathuile and Annecy.
During formal questioning by law enforcement, all three detained minors admitted to their active involvement in the conspiracy. Following their police custody period, the suspects received a probationary criminal warning, formally known as an avertissement pénal probatoire, which replaces the traditional legal reminder of the law.
