Polish authorities have launched a massive nationwide security operation, inspecting nearly 50,000 schools and detaining 76 people, following a series of violent incidents that have rattled the country. The latest attack occurred on Saturday in Warsaw, where a 21-year-old woman injured three people inside an educational institution. According to Jakub Filipiak, a spokesman for Warsaw police, the attacker used a “dangerous object” to wound a 17-year-old woman and two others, aged 17 and 24. None of the injuries were life-threatening. The police noted that the institution was open on a Saturday because it is a higher education establishment, and the attacker had no prior connection to the victims.
This Saturday incident marks the third attack at a Polish school in less than a week. The wave of violence began on Wednesday, when a 19-year-old student at a vocational school in the Mazovian province attacked fellow students, teachers, and passersby with a sharp object. The assailant injured nine people before fleeing the scene and being arrested nearby. The following day, a 15-year-old student killed a school custodian and wounded two others in a knife attack at his former school in the same province. The 15-year-old, who wore a camera to record his actions, was eventually overpowered by the school director, Krzysztof Ochmański. Ochmański later recounted that the boy seemed to realize the gravity of his actions, telling him, “It got to the point where he wanted a hug.”
These assaults, both carried out by Polish nationals, have shocked a country where school violence by minors is a new phenomenon. By Thursday night, rumors of a coordinated plot for a “bloody Friday” had spread through online parent groups and media. In response, 59 schools preemptively suspended classes on Friday, with the majority located in the Mazovian district. School directors implemented enhanced security measures, including stationing extra staff at entrances and conducting voluntary backpack checks. Interior Minister Marcin Kierwiński stated, “There will be no compromise here. The safety of the youth is the most important thing.”
The 76 individuals detained by police include a 14-year-old boy from a central district of Warsaw found with a knife and 11 firecrackers, and a 16-year-old carrying a butterfly knife in his backpack. Other detainees had posted photos of knives online or issued threats against their peers. Despite these arrests, the government stated there is no evidence of an ongoing internet challenge promoting school attacks, nor is there official confirmation that the three incidents are linked. Both primary perpetrators remain in custody.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk emphasized the need for new legal tools to combat online threats, noting that the government was unable to block the 15-year-old's streamed content due to current legal limitations. Authorities have promised to continue extra security measures and organize crisis training for schools, while also renewing efforts to pass legislation aimed at blocking harmful online content.
Parents across Poland are now having to catch up fast on how to speak to their kids about school violence.
“Once I had established contact, he asked me for help,” Ochmański recounted.
