Nine people were wounded after a 19-year-old student attacked pupils, teachers and two passers-by with a bladed weapon at a vocational school in Ostrołęka, north-eastern Poland, before fleeing and being detained by police. Investigators later found a homemade explosive device in the attacker’s backpack which, according to National Prosecutor Dariusz Korneluk, came close to detonating.
The attack began at around 11:05 a.m. on Wednesday at Zespół Szkół Zawodowych No. 4. Prosecutors said the 19-year-old, a student in the school’s final year, entered the building carrying a dangerous weapon and attacked students and teachers. Authorities have not established a motive.
Latest figures provided by Masovian regional governor Mariusz Frankowski put the number of victims at nine: five students, two teachers and two bystanders. The attacker also injured himself, taking the total number of people hurt to ten. Nine people, including the suspect, were taken to hospital, but officials said none was in a life-threatening condition. One teacher suffered serious injuries.
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Police said the attacker used a machete. Students barricaded themselves inside classrooms during the assault before being evacuated, according to the fire service.
The violence did not end when the attacker left the school. Authorities said he wounded two people who happened to be in a nearby park as he fled towards the city beach.
Police launched an immediate search and detained the suspect around 20 to 30 minutes later, several hundred metres from the school. Officers said he had injured himself before being apprehended.
Explosive device found in backpack
Attention later turned to a backpack left behind at the school. Earlier in the afternoon, police cordoned off the surrounding area while bomb-disposal officers examined it, with local police initially saying that its contents had not yet been established. Witnesses and emergency personnel had reported that a small amount of smoke appeared to be coming from the bag.
The investigation subsequently produced a more serious finding. National Prosecutor Dariusz Korneluk told TVN24 that a homemade explosive device had been discovered inside the backpack and that it had come close to detonating, Reuters reported.
There was no reported explosion and authorities had not, by Wednesday evening, disclosed the device’s construction, its potential destructive capability or why it failed to detonate.
That distinction is important: investigators have confirmed the discovery of a homemade device, but its intended role in the attack, and whether the suspect planned to use it against people, remain matters for the criminal investigation.
Attempted-murder investigation opened
The Ostrołęka District Prosecutor’s Office has opened an investigation into attempted murder over the attack. Prosecutors were carrying out inspections at the school and surrounding area, securing possible surveillance footage and interviewing witnesses.
At this stage, opening an investigation into attempted murder does not mean a court has determined the suspect’s guilt or the precise legal classification of every act. The 19-year-old was receiving medical treatment following his self-inflicted injuries, and prosecutors said they had up to 48 hours after his detention to carry out the initial procedural steps involving him.
Authorities have also not confirmed claims circulating among students and in Polish media about what may have motivated the attack. Those accounts remain unverified and are not being treated as established facts.
Ostrołęka mayor Paweł Niewiadomski ordered the affected school closed and instructed other city-run schools to prevent unauthorised people from entering their premises. Psychological support was made available to students and staff.
The mayor also appealed to residents not to circulate unverified information, photographs or recordings from the scene while police and prosecutors reconstruct what happened.
The discovery of the explosive device significantly broadens the investigation beyond the knife attack itself. Investigators will now have to establish how the device was made, whether it was capable of causing a lethal explosion, how close it came to functioning and what the suspect intended to do with it.
