One killed in axe attack at University of Warsaw, say police in Poland

WARSAW – The police said on May 7 they had detained a 22-year-old Polish man after he killed one person with an axe at the University of Warsaw, in an attack the institution described as a “huge tragedy”.

“Police have detained a man who entered the University of Warsaw campus. One person died, another was taken to hospital with injuries,” the police in a statement on X.

They said the incident occurred at around 6.40pm (12.40am on May 8 in Singapore), when the man attacked people on the campus with an axe, adding that the detainee was a 22-year-old Polish citizen.

Gazeta Wyborcza daily reported that the attacker was a third-year law student.

Private broadcaster Polsat News reported that a woman’s severed head and an axe had been found at the university.

A spokesperson for the district prosecutor’s office declined to comment on whether a severed head had been found.

The spokesperson said that a female administrative employee of the university had been killed at the scene, and a security guard was injured and was taken to hospital in critical condition.

He said that the attacker had entered an auditorium at the university.

Reuters reporters at the scene saw police vans and a cordon around the auditorium where the attack took place.

The rector of the University of Warsaw said in a statement that May 8 would be a day of mourning at the institution, calling the attack a “huge tragedy”.

“We express our great sorrow and sympathy to the family and loved ones,” the statement read. REUTERS