Crimeupdated 45m ago2 min read
Polish Police Arrest Teens Over School Attack Threats After “Bloody Friday” Panic
15-year-old former pupil killed a caretaker and wounded staff at Leszczydół-Nowiny primary school. In Ostrołęka, a 19-year-old pupil injured around nine to ten people.
Teen threats spark crackdown
Polish police arrested 10 people and deployed officers to 10,000 schools after a string of school-attack stabbings and threats fueled panic about a supposed online “Bloody Friday” challenge. Digital Affairs Minister Krzysztof Gawkowski told TVN24 that “there is no sign of any nationwide 'challenge' taking place,” while he added that authorities could not rule out “one, two or three individuals” coordinating or imitating. Police said they detained a 13-year-old from Warsaw who posted a photo of a knife in a class group chat and threatened other students, and they detained a 14-year-old in Warsaw on school grounds with a knife and 11 firecrackers.
Police also detained two 15-year-olds from Pruszków County, on the outskirts of the capital, after they posted a video with death threats, and police said they were investigating threats on the internet and at educational centers. Police had detained 10 people, mainly for making threats online, as further arrests were announced during the morning.
Stabbings, thwarted plans
A 19-year-old stabbed and injured nine people at a Vocational Training Institute in Ostrołęka, 125 kilometers from Warsaw, and police later arrested another 17-year-old after he indicated an intention to do “something spectacular” at his school. A 15-year-old entered the primary school in Leszczydół-Nowiny, north of Warsaw, at around 09:00 and attacked a 37-year-old caretaker, before being overpowered by a teacher and the school headteacher who were also injured. The 15-year-old was equipped with a helmet with a camera to broadcast live and killed a female security guard and injured two other people at his former primary school.
El País also described police identifying 13 suspicious incidents that could be crimes and tightening security at facilities after the sequence of attacks and attempted attacks by teenagers. Police had detained a 14-year-old in Warsaw with a knife and firecrackers and detained two 15-year-olds from Pruszków County who posted a video with threats to kill.
Misinformation and legal risk
Polish security forces denounced “a wave of false information” that caused “huge social unease,” and they said they were investigating the slightest signal of threat in educational centers and on the internet. “every alert activation or commission of a crime carries serious legal consequences,” as authorities sought to calm fears spurred by rumors online. Police deployed to 10,000 schools and the government warned against the spread of misinformation officials feared could inspire copycat attacks.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk convened an urgent meeting with several ministries and pointed to “the grim phenomenon of imitation,” while he also said the situation was influenced by “a wave of violence on the internet.” Krzysztof Gawkowski told TVN24 that “we cannot rule out the possibility that one, two or three individuals might be communicating in a group,” but he said authorities saw “no evidence of a threat stemming from a group of people coordinating to harm someone today.”