Polish priest killed, four injured in knife attack at Jaroslaw abbey

Jaroslaw, Poland. A Polish priest died and four other people were injured on Thursday when a man armed with a knife attacked clergy and worshippers at a Benedictine abbey in southern Poland, a prosecutor said. Two of the injured are in critical, life-threatening condition.

Attack at monastery

The attack took place at a Benedictine Sisters monastery on the abbey grounds, local media reported. Bozena Harasz-Woloszyn of the District Prosecutor’s Office in Przemysl said the attacker was a 31-year-old Ukrainian national who had entered Poland from Germany earlier that day.

She said he took a knife from a kitchen on the premises and attacked four men and one woman, including a priest who was in a confessional. Three of the five victims were clergy members and two were laypeople.

Police investigation and mourning

The motive was not immediately clear. Police said they were at the scene investigating.

“We are aware that Father Stanislaw has passed away and Father Marek is in serious condition; there are other casualties, but we do not have further details,” Sister Barbara Dendor told state broadcaster TVP Info. “When I arrived, there was total panic,” she said.

Jaroslaw Mayor Marcin Nazarewicz told a press conference that a period of mourning was being declared until the end of the week.