A third attack at a Polish school in less than a week took place on Saturday, when a 21-year-old woman injured three people at an educational institution in Warsaw, police said. The woman allegedly used a “dangerous object” to attack a 17-year-old girl, injuring two other people aged 17 and 24 in the process, Jakub Filipiak, a Warsaw police spokesperson, told The Associated Press. None of the injuries was life-threatening.
The incident came as authorities intensified security measures across Poland following two school attacks earlier in the week that left one person dead and several others injured, including children. Police said on Saturday that they had detained 76 people across the country and inspected nearly 50,000 schools to prevent further violence, according to the AP.
On Friday, schools nationwide tightened security, with 59 institutions suspending classes, many parents keeping their children at home and police patrols deployed at educational facilities. School authorities also introduced additional precautions, including placing more staff at entrances and conducting voluntary backpack checks. “There will be no compromise here. The safety of the youth is the most important thing,” Interior Minister Marcin Kierwinski said.
The heightened alert followed two violent incidents in the central province of Mazovia. On Wednesday, a 19-year-old student at a vocational school attacked fellow students, teachers and passersby with a sharp object, injuring nine people before fleeing. He was arrested nearby. The following day, a 15-year-old attacked his former school in the same province, killing a school custodian and injuring two others in a knife attack. The teenager, who reportedly wore a camera to record his actions, was eventually overpowered by school director Krzysztof Ochmanski. Both attacks were carried out by Polish nationals and shocked a country where school violence involving minors has emerged as a growing concern.
By Thursday night, rumours circulating in parents’ online groups and mainstream media suggested that the attacks might have been coordinated and that further violence could occur on Friday, which was dubbed “bloody Friday”. Authorities said those detained during the security operation included a 14-year-old boy from central Warsaw who was found carrying a knife with a concealed blade and 11 firecrackers. A 16-year-old from another Warsaw district was found with a butterfly knife in his school backpack. Others were detained over allegedly posting pictures of knives online, threatening fellow students or making threats against schools.
The government said it had found no evidence so far of an ongoing online challenge encouraging school attacks. Authorities have also not officially confirmed any link between the two earlier incidents, and both alleged perpetrators remain in custody. The attacks have prompted parents across Poland to seek ways to discuss school violence with their children. Officials have said enhanced security measures will remain in place and crisis-response training will be organised. The liberal government has also pledged to renew efforts to pass legislation aimed at blocking harmful online content. Prime Minister Donald Tusk stated that, “If that juvenile attacker had streamed the crime online today, we would have been unable to block that content because we have not been given that legal tool.”
Recounting his confrontation with the 15-year-old attacker, Ochmanski said the teenager appeared to grasp the gravity of his actions at one point and indicated that he no longer wanted to continue. “Once I had established contact, he asked me for help,” Ochmanski said. “It got to the point where he wanted a hug.”
