On Wednesday, October 7, a 19-year-old student attacked people with a knife at Vocational School Complex No. 4 in Ostrołęka (TVN24, Polsat News, xyz.pl, OKO.press). According to PAP, nine people were injured: five students, two teachers and two bystanders; AP gives eight, other sources ten. The attacker was detained after a few dozen minutes. The Ostrołęka Regional Prosecutor’s Office said he was charged with attempted murder and that it would apply for pretrial detention. According to prosecutors, he had a homemade explosive in his backpack, which he left in a computer lab, and sappers secured it. Information about an announcement of the attack on an internet forum has not been officially confirmed by police or prosecutors.
This is one of the most serious attacks on a school in Poland in recent years and the first in a series that within a week has raised questions about the safety of students and teachers.
If you have a child at school, it is worth talking with them about what to do in case of a threat and following the school’s announcements. Report any credible threat to the police, number 112.
Some experts: better procedures for the early detection of warning signs and psychological support in schools are needed.
Others: changing procedures alone is not enough, and schools cannot become security facilities.
The facts are still incomplete: the number of injured and the motive have not been established. It is worth checking what prosecutors say about the explosive and the planning of the attack after the detention request, and whether the case will change procedures in schools.
TVN24, Polsat News, xyz.pl, Super Express, OKO.press, AP (citizen.digital, bluewin) (Oct. 7, 2026)
Knife attack at a vocational school in Ostrołęka: 19-year-old wounds nine people, had a homemade explosive device in his backpack
The attacker was detained after a few dozen minutes and charged with attempted murder. According to prosecutors, he left a backpack with an explosive in a computer lab, which sappers secured.
On Wednesday, October 7, a 19-year-old student attacked people with a knife at Vocational School Complex No. 4 in Ostrołęka, about 120 km north of Warsaw. According to PAP, nine people were injured: five students, two teachers and two bystanders; other media, including AP, give eight or ten, so the figure has not been definitively established. As TVN24 and Polsat News report, the victims are not in life-threatening danger, although AP wrote of one person in serious condition. The attacker was detained after about twenty to thirty minutes near the school.
The Ostrołęka Regional Prosecutor’s Office said the 19-year-old was charged, including with attempted murder, and that it would seek pretrial detention. According to prosecutors, he had a homemade explosive in his backpack, which he left in a computer lab; the backpack was secured by sappers (xyz.pl, Super Express). There were reports that in the morning he wrote on an internal forum about an attack on his 19th birthday, but neither police nor prosecutors have officially confirmed this. DailyDrop does not describe motives until investigators do.