Bratislava:
A tragic incident unfolded at a secondary school in northeastern Slovakia on Thursday as a teen carried out a knife attack, resulting in the loss of a fellow student and a teacher’s life, while also injuring another woman.
The 18-year-old perpetrator was swiftly apprehended by the police after the heinous act.
“Two women, aged 18 and 51, tragically lost their lives,” informed Danka Capakova from Slovakia’s emergency service to AFP.
She continued, “An 18-year-old woman sustained moderate injuries and was promptly taken to the hospital for treatment.”
Initial reports from the police indicated that a female teacher and two students were targeted in the attack.
The tragic incident occurred in the town of Spisska Stara Ves, located near the border with Poland, approximately 280 kilometers (175 miles) northeast of the capital Bratislava.
The emergency services responded promptly, dispatching multiple ambulance units to the Spisska Stara Ves grammar school before 13:00 (1200 GMT),” Capakova confirmed.
Additionally, Capakova mentioned that medical personnel provided assistance to a 51-year-old man and a 62-year-old woman on-site due to acute stress reactions.
The assailant, identified as 18-year-old student “S.S.”, initially managed to flee, prompting the police to seek public assistance in locating him.
A photo of the attacker, sporting cropped blonde hair, was released by the authorities.
According to the Markiza private TV station, the student had transferred to the school from another institution in the nearby town of Kezmarok after being expelled for making threats against fellow students.
‘Real tragedy’
Slovak Interior Minister Matus Sutaj Estok condemned the act, expressing his condolences to the victims’ families and confirming his imminent visit to the crime scene.
Describing the incident as “a real tragedy,” Slovak President Peter Pellegrini emphasized that “no problem in the world can be solved with a knife or any other weapon.”
The Student Council of Secondary Schools took to Instagram to assert that “hatred and violence have no place in our society, particularly in schools where young individuals should feel secure.”
In a separate incident in 2020, a teacher was fatally stabbed and several others were injured in a primary school in central Slovakia, marking the country’s first violent attack in an educational institution.
Law enforcement officers responded by neutralizing the assailant, a 22-year-old male former student, as he attempted to flee.
Across Europe, in December 2024, a tragic stabbing incident at a school in the Croatian capital Zagreb resulted in the death of a seven-year-old pupil and injuries to several others.
In 2023, Serbia was shaken by consecutive mass shootings, including a school massacre in Belgrade, where 10 individuals lost their lives.
(This story has been published from a syndicated feed and has not been modified by NDTV staff, except for the headline.)
