Teen Attacker Filmed School Stabbing With Helmet Camera
Authorities are investigating a potential online challenge linked to a fatal school attack in Poland.
A 15-year-old boy attacked a Polish primary school, killing one employee and wounding two others while wearing a helmet-mounted camera, in the country's second school stabbing in two days. Police are investigating whether the attacks are connected to an online challenge that encourages teenagers to kill as many people as possible.
The victim, a 37-year-old caretaker, died in the Thursday morning attack at the school in Leszczydol-Nowiny, northeast of Warsaw. The school's head teacher, Krzysztof Ochmanski, was injured while subduing the teenager. Ochmanski told Polskie Radio RDC that the assailant had three knives and wounded him with one before being restrained.
The day prior, a 19-year-old wounded 10 people, including himself, at a school in Ostroleka, also in northeastern Poland. Additionally, police arrested a 17-year-old in Sierpc, north-central Poland, this week on suspicion of planning a similar attack.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk expressed concern about a potential "copycat phenomenon," noting the unprecedented nature of an attacker filming the incident. Tusk ordered daily police visits to schools to deter further violence.
Nikola, the 18-year-old sister of a student at the school attacked on Thursday, mentioned rumors about a social media challenge. "I still don't know if it's true, actually — because it sounds so unreal, so terrifying, just like something out of a movie: some kind of challenge to kill as many people as possible," she told Reuters.