President offers condolences after axe attack at Warsaw university
Poland's President Andrzej Duda has extended condolences to the family of a deceased victim and the academic community after a student fatally wounded a receptionist and seriously injured a security guard at the University of Warsaw.
Duda wrote on the X platform on Wednesday evening that he "joins in pain and prayer with the victim's loved ones and the entire university community." He also wished a speedy recovery for the injured security guard.
Similar expressions of sympathy were extended by numerous state officials, including Justice Minister Adam Bodnar, Education Minister Barbara Nowacka and Warsaw Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski.
The university announced Thursday as a day of mourning and cancelled classes to commemorate the victim.
The incident occurred at 6:40pm on Wednesday on the main campus of the university located on Krakowskie Przedmiescie Street, where the attacker assaulted a receptionist in her fifties within the Auditorium Maximum building. A security guard who attempted to intervene was also attacked and is currently in critical condition.
Piotr Antoni Skiba from the Warsaw District Prosecutor's Office confirmed that the suspect, a 22-year-old law student of Polish nationality, was apprehended at the scene.
The motive behind the attack, which was reportedly carried out with a hatchet or axe, remains unclear. (PAP)
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