Third school knife attack in Poland in a week: woman injures three people

A woman has been arrested after injuring three people in the third knife attack recorded at schools in Poland this week. The 21-year-old used a "dangerous object" to attack a 17-year-old girl at an educational institution in the capital Warsaw, police told news agencies PAP and AP. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing BBC News.

Attack in Warsaw

A Warsaw police spokesperson said they could not confirm whether the latest incident was related to the two previous attacks. Authorities told local media that the 17-year-old injured on Saturday had been taken to hospital, but her condition is not life-threatening. Two other women aged 17 and 24, who had come to submit enrolment documents, were also injured, the state news agency reported.

Police told local media that the suspected attacker was a student at the school and initial findings suggest she did not know the three victims.

Events during the week

It comes a day after thousands of police visited schools across Poland following two stabbing attacks earlier in the week, one of which killed a female caretaker.

Schools in Poland had been stepping up security following knife attacks at schools across the country on 7 and 8 October. Polish police said they had arrested 76 people after deploying to schools across the country.

"When it comes to the safety of Polish children and peace in our schools, there is no room for compromise," Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said ahead of the operation.

Local media, citing a police spokesperson, reported authorities had information to suggest incidents this past week could be related to an internet challenge.

Previous attacks

On Wednesday, a 19-year-old student attacked and injured nine people at a vocational school in the central Polish province of Mazovian.

A day later, a 37-year-old caretaker was killed after a 15-year-old entered a primary school in Leszczydół-Nowiny, north of Warsaw.

Interior Minister Marcin Kierwiński also said a 17-year-old was detained in the town of Sierpc, north-west of Warsaw, after allegedly stating "on school grounds that he planned to do something... dangerous - that he intended to harm someone".