Two students fight at Olsztyn school, police secure machete-like object
Police in Olsztyn said a 17-year-old and a 19-year-old scuffled on the grounds of a school on ul. Metalowa on Saturday morning, after a conflict that had lasted for some time. A witness took a sharp object from the 17-year-old, and officers have secured it while experts decide whether it is a machete.
The fight at the school
On Saturday, 10 October, police were called to a school on ul. Metalowa in Olsztyn after a fight between two students, aged 17 and 19. According to Sergeant Izabela Bogacka of the Olsztyn police, the incident happened at about 10 o'clock on the school grounds, when a conflict between the two young men turned into a scuffle during a conversation. TVP Info reports that the pair had been in conflict for some time and had agreed to settle it in a so-called 'solówka', a one-on-one fight. One of the school's teachers separated the participants. Both students suffered injuries from the scuffle and were taken to the police station for tests, after which police will carry out further procedures with them.
- Scuffle between two students aged 17 and 19 on school grounds on ul. Metalowa
- Portal tko.pl receives first information about the incident
- Both students taken to the police station for tests
The machete-like object
The central question concerns an object that a witness saw in the possession of the 17-year-old. The witness took it from him at a convenient moment and threw it aside. Police say the object was not used during the fight and nobody was injured by its blade. Police also said, as TVP Info reports, that the 17-year-old had been under the influence of alcohol. Officers secured the object, but Sergeant Bogacka declined to say whether it was a machete, saying that experts would make that assessment. Gazeta Olsztynka reports the same position, noting that officers are not yet ruling on the question.
Early accounts differed
Early reporting described a more serious threat than the police statements. Portal tko.pl, as cited by NIEZALEZNA.PL, said it had received first information before noon on Saturday about a man armed with a machete moving through the building of a private school on ul. Metalowa, and that students had been temporarily kept inside. The same report described the school as offering weekend classes and said the two men involved were attending it. TKO published a photograph showing a machete stuck in the ground, with a female police officer standing nearby, along with images of other emergency services at the building. The later police statements describe two students who scuffled, with no blade used, while TVP Info reports that students were to stay inside the building for their own safety during the intervention.
Wider context and next steps
TVP Info also reports similar police interventions a day earlier in Olsztynek and Biskupiec. Police are questioning witnesses and establishing the exact course of the incident. The expert assessment will determine whether the seized object was a machete. Both students are due to undergo further procedures after their tests at the station. Police said the examination of the object and the details of the conflict are still under way.
