Lublin prosecutors charge 21-year-old Ukrainian student with planning a random killing

The arrest and charge

Prosecutors in Lublin announced on Monday, 12 October, that a 21-year-old Ukrainian man was detained on Friday, 9 October, at about 23:00 on a street in Lublin, while working as a taxi driver for a ride-hailing app. He is a criminology student at the Catholic University of Lublin (KUL). He has been charged with preparing the killing of a randomly encountered person, with a motive deserving special condemnation and racial hatred. The Lublin-West District Court granted the prosecutors' request and remanded him in custody for three months. He denies the charge and, in his explanations, disputes the investigators' findings. The offence carries a penalty of up to 15 years in prison.

What investigators say he did

According to prosecutors, during seminar classes he praised crimes, including racially motivated ones, and said he intended to kill random people as part of an online challenge called "krwawy piątek" (Bloody Friday). He allegedly tried to recruit a female student to join, offering her a knife. Investigators say he had three knives: one he carried on him when arrested, and two throwing knives kept at his home. A preliminary analysis of two phones and a laptop showed that he searched for content about torture and the infliction of pain, and prosecutors say he motivated himself to commit the crime by watching graphic material on Telegram. Prosecutors also said he had never been treated psychiatrically, and fellow students regarded him as quiet and calm.

The Lublin District Prosecutor's Office credited the quick reaction of the university authorities and a decisive police intervention with stopping the plan. Marcin Kozak, the office's spokesman, put it this way:

The suspect did not achieve his intended goal solely thanks to the immediate reaction of the university authorities and the decisive intervention of the police.

How the case began

The investigation started with a notification from the authorities of KUL. A university employee reported worrying signals from female seminar students about aggressive and extremist statements made by one student. KUL spokesman Wojciech Andrusiewicz told PAP that the rector agreed to police entering the student's room in the university dormitory. He said the university cooperates with the services to ensure students' safety. The suspect was taken into custody while working as a ride-hailing taxi driver, and police found one knife on him at the time of arrest.

Wider police checks across Poland

TVN24 reports that after a wave of reports about disturbing behaviour and posts by young people on Friday, 9 October, police across Poland checked nearly 80,000 schools and detained 135 people. Prosecutors have brought charges in several cases, and courts have imposed measures including police supervision and temporary arrest. Separately, rumours spread online in early October, after a series of school attacks in Mazovia, that further attacks were planned for Friday, 9 October. Police said they have been verifying reports of an alleged internet challenge since it first appeared. In a statement, the police said:

We inform that so far nothing indicates that such an event actually took place.

What comes next

The 21-year-old remains in custody for three months under the court's order. He has not been convicted, and he denies the offence. The university says it works with the services on student safety, and the rector has allowed police access to the dormitory room. The case covers a single suspect, while the wider checks have so far produced charges and court measures in several cases only.