Slovakia charges police officer after knife attack at school

On Tuesday morning in the Slovak village of Staškov, in the Čadca district, a student at the local school attacked classmates and teachers with a knife. According to police, 61-year-old teacher Božena Mariaková died of her injuries, another student is in critical condition, and a second injured teacher is in stable condition.

According to the news portal Aktuality, a local police officer is also implicated in the case: he had previously received information about the boy’s troubling behaviour but did not consider it serious enough to act on. He has now been charged in connection with the attack.

According to the latest reports, the injured classmate is in hemorrhagic shock from severe blood loss. The second teacher, who suffered knife wounds to the chest, was taken to a hospital in Žilina, where her condition has been stabilized.

Slovakia’s education minister, Tomáš Drucker, confirmed that on Monday the entire class spent two hours with a psychologist because of an incident that had come to light on Friday, though he stopped short of directly linking it to the attack. Psychologists were due to return to the school on Wednesday. “There was a reaction — it may have been an impulsive decision. It’s hard to say. Let’s leave room for the investigators,” the minister said at a press conference in the village where the attack took place.

The case has been handed to the National Crime Agency of the Slovak Police Force Presidium, which is now investigating both the attacker and the police officer.

Source: novinky.cz