Polish police detained 76 people nationwide on Saturday as authorities worked to prevent further violence following a string of school attacks earlier in the week, according to CNN. The detentions came after officers checked nearly 50,000 schools across the country in response to two separate attacks that left one person dead and several others wounded.
The sweep marks the most sweeping security response yet to a wave of violence that has rattled Polish schools since Wednesday, when a 19-year-old vocational school student in Mazovian province attacked fellow students, teachers and passersby with a sharp object. Nine people were injured before the attacker fled and was arrested nearby, CNN reported.
What Happened In The Latest Poland School Attacks
A second attack followed on Thursday at a former school, also in Mazovian province. A school custodian was killed and two other people were wounded in that knife attack, according to CNN. The attacker wore a camera to record the assault, and the school director ultimately overpowered him. The director later said the attacker appeared to realize the severity of what he had done, telling the director he did not want to continue and asking for a hug, CNN reported.
By Thursday night, rumors circulated in parents’ online groups and mainstream media that the two attacks were coordinated and that additional violence was planned for Friday under the label “bloody Friday,” according to CNN.
In response, 59 schools across Poland preemptively suspended classes on Friday, with most of those closures concentrated in the Mazovian district, CNN reported. School directors in affected areas announced tighter security, including additional staff stationed at entrances and voluntary backpack checks.
Saturday’s Detentions And Poland School Attacks Response
The 76 people detained Saturday included individuals found carrying weapons and others who had posted online threats or photos of knives, according to CNN. Among them were a 14-year-old from central Warsaw found with a concealed-blade knife and 11 firecrackers, and a 16-year-old from another Warsaw district who came to school with a butterfly knife.
“There will be no compromise here. The safety of the youth is the most important thing,” Kierwiński said, according to CNN.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk pointed to gaps in Poland’s legal tools for controlling violent content online. “If that juvenile attacker had streamed the crime online today, we would have been unable to block that content because we have not been given that legal tool,” Tusk said, according to CNN.
What’s Next
Authorities said extra security measures at schools will remain in place and that crisis training will be organized for staff. Poland’s governing coalition has also pledged to renew its push for legislation that would allow officials to block harmful online content, according to CNN. Authorities said extra security measures at schools will continue indefinitely and crisis training will be organized for staff and parents.
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