France on alert: letter bomb explodes, high school shooting

PARIS (AP) - A letter bomb exploded Thursday at the French office of the International Monetary Fund, lightly injuring one person, according to Paris police.

Staff from the IMF office were evacuated and armed military officers and police guarded the area, in a chic district of western Paris. The World Bank office in France is in the same compound.

No other damage was reported in the explosion, according to a police official who was not authorized to be publicly named.

It is unclear who sent the explosive. Thursday's incident came a day after a package arrived at the German Finance Ministry containing low-grade explosives, like those used in firecrackers.

Mailroom employees at the ministry quickly identified the package as suspicious and called in explosives experts, who destroyed it with a controlled explosion.

The IMF office in France did not immediately respond to calls.

Meanwhile, in the southeastern portion of the country, a shooting took place at the Alexis de Tocqueville high school.

Officials say an armed high school student was arrested.

The government minister for victims affairs tweeted that two people were wounded and all the students are now safe.

The shooting at the high school comes as France remains in a state of emergency following deadly attacks in Paris in 2015 and an attack last year in Nice.