Slovakia: Student stabs people at school – one dead

A student stabbed teachers and classmates at a school in Slovakia. The attack claimed at least one life: a 61-year-old woman died, the TASR news agency reported, citing the police. According to consistent Slovak media reports, the woman was the former head of the school.

A child was taken to hospital in a critical condition by rescue helicopter. A 44-year-old suffered stab wounds in the chest area and was also flown to a clinic.

The incident occurred at a primary and secondary school in Staskov in the Cadca district, around 185 kilometers northeast of the capital Bratislava. “The situation is under control and no one is in immediate danger at this moment,” police said. Interior Minister Matus Sutaj Estok and Schools Minister Tomas Drucker rushed to the scene of the accident.

According to consistent media reports, the alleged perpetrator is 13 years old, attended an eighth grade school and is said to have used a knife as a weapon. There was initially no further information about the exact course of events, the possible motive or the background.

Prime Minister Robert Fico was very worried about the attack. “Schools must be a safe place for our children, otherwise we will have no future,” the politician wrote on Facebook. Fico was critically injured in an assassination attempt in May 2024.

President Peter Pellegrini expressed his condolences to the families of the dead. Such an event is a warning for the whole society, he emphasized. More peace, respect and mutual recognition are needed.