Poland Prime Minister Blames Online Glorification for School Stabbings

Police and first responders at the scene of a 15‑year‑old stabbing a caretaker and injuring two adults at a primary school in Leszczydół‑Nowiny, Poland

Three violent attacks at Polish schools this week were driven by the “glorification of violence” online, Prime Minister Donald Tusk said.

One woman was killed and others injured, including children.

“These are very often spontaneous actions inspired by online activity,” Tusk told a crisis meeting with security services.

Police have arrested 117 people across the country for weapons possession or for threatening to attack schools, after searching tens of thousands of schools.

Earlier this week a 19‑year‑old student wounded nine people at a vocational school in central Poland, and a 15‑year‑old stabbed a caretaker to death at a primary school north of Warsaw.

Internally, one 17‑year‑old was detained in the town of Sierpc for claiming “dangerous” intentions. Police deployment nationwide aimed to reassure students after rumors of a “Bloody Friday” challenge.

Security services met after receiving information about a potential attack on Tusk and Defence Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz. The threat was treated as “deadly serious.”

Tusk characterised the stabbings as “nihilistic violence” associated with the extreme right and noted an online rise in Nazi content and idolisation of mass killers.