WARSAW, Poland: Police arrested a 19-year-old student after a stabbing attack at a vocational school in north-eastern Poland on Wednesday left seven people wounded, authorities said.
The attack took place at Vocational School Complex No. 4 in Ostrołęka, about 120 kilometres (75 miles) north-east of Warsaw, according to police. The victims included students and teachers.
Police spokesperson Katarzyna Kucharska said that the suspect was a 19-year-old student at the school and was detained near the town beach after fleeing the scene, Reuters reported.
“We have preliminary information about seven people being injured, but this is very tentative and may change,” Kucharska said. “I have no information about any fatalities.”
The provincial police headquarters said emergency services were sent to the school after the attack, which took place at about 11 a.m.
Prosecutor Elzbieta Lukasiewicz told broadcaster TVN24 that the attack occurred at around 0900 GMT. She said the victims were students and teachers.
“It appears that the boy went into the school and attacked the students and teachers with a dangerous tool,” Lukasiewicz told TVN24.
She said preliminary information indicated that eight people had been injured, although police later put the figure at seven.
The fire department told Poland’s PAP news agency that those injured included three adults and five teenagers. Police said five of the seven victims were under 18.
Two of the wounded were reported to be in serious condition, according to private broadcaster RMF FM.
The injured were being treated at the Mazovian Specialist Hospital in Ostrołęka and would not be transferred elsewhere, a representative of the hospital’s Accident and Emergency department told TVN24.
Police said the suspect was detained less than one kilometre (half a mile) from the school after apparently trying to flee the scene.
The alleged attacker was wounded when he was arrested and taken to hospital, police said. They did not provide details about the severity of his injuries.
Police posted a photograph on X showing a person lying face down in a wooded area with an officer’s hand on his back. The person’s face and hands were pixelated.
Ostrołęka Mayor Paweł Niewiadomski confirmed that an attack had taken place and that several people were injured.
“The most important information is that the situation has been brought under control,” Niewiadomski said in a statement.
He later said authorities remained at the scene to establish the circumstances of the incident.
