A 21-year-old woman has been detained after allegedly attacking three females with a knife at an adult education school in Warsaw, in another violent incident during a week of heightened concern about school safety across Poland. Two 17-year-olds and a 24-year-old woman were injured in Saturday’s attack on Mińska Street in the Polish capital. One teenager was taken to hospital with cuts to her forearm, although police said her injuries were not life-threatening.
The incident occurred at approximately 12:30pm Polish time on Saturday, 10 October, inside a school building in Warsaw’s Praga-Południe district, on the eastern side of the Vistula River.
According to Polsat News, which obtained information directly from Warsaw police, the attack took place near the office of a school complex providing adult education.
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Emergency services were called to the building, and police officers arrived approximately four minutes after receiving the report.
Warsaw police spokesman Jacek Wiśniewski subsequently provided further details about the suspect, the victims and the police response.
School employee restrains suspected attacker
The alleged attacker was a 21-year-old woman who attended the educational institution.
According to the Polish Press Agency’s report based on Wiśniewski’s statement, the woman attacked one of the 17-year-olds with a knife, while another 17-year-old and a 24-year-old woman were also injured.
A member of staff restrained the alleged attacker before police arrived.
The woman was subsequently taken into police custody.
Investigators have not publicly established a motive for the attack.
Initial police findings suggest that the suspect did not previously know the three injured females.
The Polish Press Agency reported that the victims had come to the institution to submit enrolment paperwork, while the suspect was already a student there.
Police have not announced any charges or released further details about what may have prompted the violence.
One teenager taken to hospital
The most seriously injured victim was a 17-year-old girl who sustained cuts to her forearm.
Police confirmed that she was taken to hospital but that her life was not in danger.
The other two females, aged 17 and 24, suffered comparatively minor injuries and did not require hospital admission.
The distinction is significant because early reports suggested that two teenagers had been taken to hospital.
Subsequent information from Warsaw police clarified that three females were injured but only one required hospital treatment.
Authorities have not indicated that any of the victims suffered life-threatening injuries.
Another attack during a week of school violence
Saturday’s incident comes after two serious attacks at educational institutions in Poland’s Mazovia region earlier in the week.
On Wednesday, 7 October, a 19-year-old student attacked people with a sharp weapon at a vocational school in Ostrołęka, north of Warsaw.
Nine people were injured before the alleged attacker was detained.
A day later, a 15-year-old former pupil attacked staff at a primary school in Leszczydół-Nowiny, near Wyszków.
A 37-year-old school caretaker died from her injuries, while two other members of staff were wounded.
The two incidents prompted an extensive police security operation, school closures and widespread public concern.
In its report on the nationwide police response, the Associated Press confirmed that by Saturday morning officers had detained 76 people and checked nearly 50,000 educational facilities across Poland.
Those figures were recorded before the attack on Mińska Street.
The nationwide detentions involved a range of suspected offences and threatening behaviour, rather than 76 confirmed attempts to attack schools.
No confirmed connection to earlier attacks
Despite the timing, there is currently no verified evidence that the Warsaw attack was connected to the violence in Ostrołęka or Leszczydół-Nowiny.
Police have also been investigating rumours that a series of school attacks was planned as part of an alleged internet challenge.
Authorities have repeatedly warned that these claims remain unverified.
According to Reuters’ reporting on the national security operation, Deputy Prime Minister Krzysztof Gawkowski said investigators had not established evidence of a coordinated campaign behind the earlier attacks.
Officials have nevertheless warned about the possibility of individuals attempting to imitate violence they have seen reported online.
The circumstances of Saturday’s Warsaw incident remain a separate matter for investigators to establish.
The fact that the attack occurred at an educational institution does not, by itself, demonstrate a connection to previous cases.
Investigation continues
Warsaw police are working to establish the circumstances and motive behind the attack.
The alleged attacker remains in police custody, while the injured 17-year-old has received hospital treatment.
The incident raises further concerns about security at educational institutions during a week in which police have already been deployed on an unusually large scale.
For now, the confirmed facts are that three females were injured, one required hospital treatment, and a 21-year-old woman was detained.
Any connection to the previous school attacks remains unproven.
