15 people in police custody after beheading of French teacher who showed Prophet Muhammad cartoons

Fifteen people were in French police custody Monday following the grisly beheading of a history teacher in a suspected terror attack northwest of Paris, Agence France-Presse reported.

The group included four students and a person who “has already been convicted of terrorism offenses” and allegedly admitted to contact with the teacher’s alleged assassin before the attack, a source told AFP.

“One or more students” allegedly helped suspected killer Abdoulakh Anzarov identify the teacher, possibly in exchange for money, the source reportedly said.

A portrait of history teacher Samuel Paty is held up as people took part in gatherings Sunday in support of freedom of speech and in tribute to Paty, who was beheaded near Paris after discussing caricatures of Islam’s Prophet Muhammad with his class. (Michel Spingler/)

The report came the same day French President Emmanuel Macron met with the family of the slain teacher and was due to meet with France’s leading Muslim organization, the French Muslim Council.

Samuel Paty, 47, was beheaded Friday on a street near Collège du Bois d’Aulne, the school where he taught in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, about 20 miles northwest of central Paris.

His alleged murderer, an 18-year-old Moscow-born Chechen refugee, was later shot dead by police.

According to police, Paty had discussed caricatures of Islam’s Prophet Muhammad with his class, leading to threats.

Anti-terrorism prosecutor Jean-Francois Ricard said investigators found a photo of Patay on the victim’s phone along with a message that claimed responsibility for the slaying.

The prosecutor said investigators confirmed a Twitter account under the username Abdoulakh A belonged to the suspect.

The account reportedly posted a photo of the decapitated head after Paty’s murder along with the message, “I have executed one of the dogs from hell who dared to put Muhammad down.”

France’s interior minister has said authorities are investigating about 50 associations suspected of encouraging hate speech in the country.

Meanwhile, Hassen Chalghoumi, the president of the Conference of Imams in France, has condemned the killing.

“Barbarism has no place in schools nor elsewhere in France,” he said.

“We are hurt, we are condemning this barbaric act,” he said on French news broadcast BFM TV. “Samuel is a martyr of freedom.”

With News Wire Services