Police officers across Poland stopped for a minute’s silence at noon on Friday as patrol-car lights and sirens were activated in a nationwide tribute to Natan Sieroń, the 29-year-old Bolesławiec officer who died after being shot while on duty. His funeral was held with state and police honours in his home village of Rokitki in south-western Poland.
The tribute was timed to coincide with the start of the funeral ceremony on 2 October. Police units across the country stopped vehicles and assembled outside stations as officers observed the minute of silence with emergency lights and sound signals switched on. The Polish Police confirmed the nationwide tribute, with similar ceremonies taking place from Lower Silesia to other regions of Poland.
Sieroń served in the criminal investigations division of the Bolesławiec district police headquarters and had been a police officer for less than two years. The National Police Headquarters said after his death that he had been shot while performing official duties in Kraśnik Górny on 24 September. He died in hospital the following day.
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Posthumous promotion and police honour
At Friday’s funeral, Sieroń was posthumously promoted by President Karol Nawrocki to podkomisarz, the first commissioned officer rank in the Polish police. The interior minister also awarded him the Gold Badge of Merit for Police Service.
Police chief General Inspector Marek Boroń attended the funeral alongside senior officers, government and local-government representatives, members of other uniformed services and police officers from across Poland.
The funeral took place in Rokitki, where Sieroń was also a member of the local volunteer fire brigade. The ceremony had been designated a state funeral, with Mass beginning at noon at the Church of Our Lady of Częstochowa.
Officer was shot during police operation
The shooting happened on the morning of 24 September at a property in Kraśnik Górny, near Bolesławiec.
Officers had gone to the property while investigating information that stolen items could be located there. During the police operation, a man allegedly opened fire and Sieroń suffered a gunshot wound to the head. The suspect was subsequently detained.
The 33-year-old suspect was initially charged with attempted murder, assaulting a police officer and illegal possession of a firearm. After Sieroń died, prosecutors changed the principal allegation.
On 1 October, prosecutors charged the man with murdering a police officer in the performance of his duties. According to the prosecution account reported following the hearing, he is accused of deliberately firing a 9mm Browning HP semi-automatic pistol at the officer and causing the head injury that led to his death on 25 September.
The man has not admitted to the murder charge and has given a statement to investigators. He is also suspected of illegally possessing a firearm and ammunition and of possessing amphetamine allegedly found during a search. He has been placed in pre-trial detention for three months. The allegations have not been tested at trial.
Sieroń’s death prompted tributes throughout Poland’s police service. In its first statement announcing his death, the National Police Headquarters described him as an officer who had served with commitment in the criminal division and emphasised the police oath to protect public safety even at risk to one’s own life.
Friday’s nationwide minute of silence transformed that institutional tribute into a visible act of remembrance, with police officers across the country pausing their duties as Sieroń was laid to rest.
