Warsaw police have disclosed that they intervened after identifying a 15-year-old whose online activity included searches concerning how a terrorist attack could be carried out at a shopping centre and how a police officer could be killed. Investigators say material gathered in the case was sufficient to classify the alleged punishable act as preparation for murder, although police have not said that a specific shopping centre had been selected or that an attack was imminent.
The teenager is a Ukrainian citizen. Police have not released his identity, and because he is a minor the case is being handled through Warsaw’s family-court system rather than as an ordinary adult criminal prosecution.
According to the official Warsaw Police District V statement, officers received information about what they described as disturbing internet activity and began trying to establish who was responsible and whether the searches were connected with preparations to commit a prohibited act.
- Find more news from Poland on our Homepage .
Police said the teenager had searched for material relating to the possibility of carrying out a terrorist attack in a shopping centre as well as information about killing a police officer. The statement does not identify a particular shopping centre, police officer, date or intended method.
That distinction is important. The information released so far establishes that police identified concerning searches and subsequently treated the case as alleged preparation for murder. It does not establish that investigators disrupted a fully developed terrorist plot.
Specialist terrorism and cybercrime officers involved
The initial investigation was handled by officers from Warsaw Police District V’s unit dealing with social prevention, juveniles and pathology.
The case then drew support from specialists in the Warsaw Metropolitan Police’s Department for Combating Acts of Terror and Killings, as well as its forensic laboratory. The official police statement also confirms that the Central Bureau for Combating Cybercrime provided specialist assistance.
Police said their work was aimed at identifying the person behind the searches, verifying the original information and establishing whether the teenager’s internet activity was actually connected with preparations to commit an offence.
🇵🇱 Warsaw police detained a 15-year-old Ukrainian after discovering online searches about carrying out a terrorist attack at a shopping centre and killing a police officer.
— Poland 24 🇵🇱 (@poland24com) October 1, 2026
Police say the evidence currently supports treating the case as preparation for murder. A family court…
Officers eventually identified the 15-year-old and his place of residence.
During a search of the home, they seized a laptop and mobile phone. Both devices have been handed to forensic specialists, who are expected to examine them and preserve data potentially relevant to the proceedings.
Police have not announced finding weapons, explosives or explosive materials, and the current statement does not say that bomb-making components or a completed operational plan were recovered.
Police describe case as preparation for murder
The most significant legal development is the way police say the material has been classified.
Their statement says the evidence gathered allowed authorities to attribute to the teenager a punishable act of preparation for murder. Because he is 15, that description is being used within juvenile proceedings rather than as a final finding of guilt in an adult criminal case.
After police completed initial procedures involving the teenager, he was taken before the Warsaw-Żoliborz District Court’s Family and Juvenile Division.
The court imposed a temporary measure placing him in a Youth Educational Centre for three months. His longer-term case will be decided by the family court.
Police have not disclosed in their public statement precisely when the teenager was first detained or when the search of his residence took place. The case was publicly announced on 1 October.
Online searches are not the same as a completed plot
Some Polish media reports have described the teenager as preparing a terrorist attack. The official police wording is more cautious.
Police say they investigated whether his internet activity was connected with preparations for a prohibited act and that the evidence gathered supported classification as preparation for murder. They have not publicly said that a particular shopping centre had been reconnoitred, that a date had been chosen or that an attack was close to being carried out.
That makes the preventative aspect of the case significant.
Authorities became involved before any attack occurred and before police have announced the existence of weapons or an operational attack plan.
The case also illustrates how information about potentially dangerous online activity can lead to cooperation between local juvenile officers, terrorism-and-homicide specialists, cybercrime investigators and forensic experts.
Police use case to warn parents about online activity
Alongside the disclosure, Warsaw police issued a broader warning to parents and guardians about young people’s internet use.
Police stressed that children can encounter — or deliberately seek out — material concerning violence, weapons and criminal behaviour online. They encouraged adults to take notice of significant changes in behaviour, new fascination with violence or weapons, secrecy surrounding online activity and the platforms and people with which children interact.
The police statement also acknowledges that children may search for disturbing content for different reasons, including curiosity or peer influence.
That point is relevant to the current investigation: internet searches themselves do not prove an intention to commit an attack. The family-court proceedings and forensic examination of the seized devices will determine what further evidence exists and how the teenager’s conduct should ultimately be treated.
For now, the confirmed development is narrower but serious: Warsaw police identified a 15-year-old after concerning online searches, seized his electronic devices, classified the alleged conduct as preparation for murder and obtained a court order placing him in a youth educational centre for three months while the case continues.
