Former pupil kills custodian and injures two in Leszczydół-Nowiny school attack

Attack at Leszczydół-Nowiny primary school

A 15-year-old former pupil carried out a fatal knife attack at an elementary school in the village of Leszczydół-Nowiny, located in Wyszków County northeast of Warsaw, on Thursday morning. The suspect, who currently attends a vocational school, entered the building at approximately 9:00 a.m. armed with three knives. He attacked a 37-year-old school custodian, striking her first before moving further into the facility. The school principal heard screams from the hallway and intervened alongside a teacher to restrain the assailant. Both staff members sustained injuries during the struggle, but they successfully subdued the teenager until police officers arrived at the scene within minutes of the alarm. Paramedics conducted resuscitation efforts on the custodian, but police confirmed that she died from her injuries. Karolina Gałecka, spokeswoman for the Ministry of the Interior, stated that the motive behind the assault remained unknown at the time of the arrest.

Katarzyna Kucharska, a spokeswoman for the regional police, described the intervention during an interview with the broadcaster TVN24.

She was the first person attacked with a sharp object. The principal heard the screams and tried to restrain the attacker, assisted by a teacher, and both were injured.

Previous assault in Ostrołęka and thwarted incident in Sierpc

The fatal incident in Leszczydół-Nowiny followed two other school-related security emergencies across north-central and northeastern Poland over the preceding 24 hours. On Wednesday, a 19-year-old assailant staged a knife attack at a school in Ostrołęka, roughly 120 kilometres north of Warsaw, wounding staff and students both inside the building and in its immediate vicinity. Early reports indicated seven people were injured, while subsequent police and interior ministry releases recorded ten injured, including the attacker himself, who was detained shortly after the assault. On the same day, police intervened in the town of Sierpc, approximately 150 kilometres northwest of Warsaw, after educators alerted authorities to a 17-year-old student who claimed he would do something dangerous on school grounds. Officers detained the teenager and seized two knives from his backpack.

Interior Minister Marcin Kierwiński outlined the evidence gathered from the suspect in Sierpc during a press statement.

Teachers alerted the police, who intervened and found two knives in his possession. Data recovered from electronic devices revealed online searches on how to plan a violent event of this type.

Cabinet emergency session and heightened school patrols

Following the successive attacks, Prime Minister Donald Tusk called an urgent government meeting for 13:00 on Thursday to address violence inside educational institutions. Government spokesman Adam Szłapka announced that the session would convene the ministers of interior, education, health, and digitalization, alongside the coordinator of special services and the commander-in-chief of police. The General Police Headquarters ordered immediate preventive actions across the country, instructing patrol units and community neighbourhood officers to increase their presence around every primary and post-primary school. Officers received orders to monitor individuals near school boundaries who might present a potential threat to students, teachers, or staff. Polish interior ministry officials confirmed that the injuries sustained by the principal and teacher in Leszczydół-Nowiny were not life-threatening. Meanwhile, government officials noted that investigators are reviewing whether external actors directed the radicalization of the youths or whether the consecutive attacks were triggered by copycat behaviour.