Poland Deploys 24,000 Police After Deadly School Attacks

Officials say Poland has deployed more than 20,000 police officers following deadly knife attacks and a wave of online threats in schools.

Poland has deployed more than 20,000 police officers across the country following a series of school stabbings and online threats, and launched a massive security crackdown that has led to dozens of arrests.

Emergency measures were taken following three stabbings in four days that left one dead and more than a dozen injured. Threats of more violence circulating online have sparked widespread alarm, prompting some schools to suspend classes and parents to keep their children at home.

Officers carried out nearly 80,000 inspections of educational institutions, arrested 135 people and identified 311 suspected offences, police said on Monday.

"Police operations are still ongoing across Poland to ensure the safety of children, young people and all staff of educational institutions," the National Police Headquarters said.

Interior Minister Marcin Kirwinski ordered a nationwide operation on Sunday, increasing patrols in and around schools. He confirmed that 24,000 officers have been mobilized.

"There will be no tolerance for any attacks on Polish children, nor for the descent of public life into chaos," Kirwinski told state broadcaster TVP Info.

Police have also arrested teenagers suspected of planning attacks or sending violent threats online.

In one case, researchers discovered that a boy had recreated his school in the online game Roblox and simulated attacks on students. Police said they found a firearm, ammunition and a knife in his possession.

This security operation follows three stabbing incidents in less than a week.

On Wednesday, a 19-year-old attacked students, teachers and passers-by at a vocational school in Ostroleka, north of Warsaw, injuring nine before being arrested.

The next day, a 15-year-old former student with a helmet-mounted camera stabbed a school janitor and injured two teachers in Leszczydol-Nowiny, northeast of the capital.

On Saturday, three people were injured in a knife attack at a graduate college in Warsaw. A woman was arrested in connection with this attack.

The violence escalated as social media threats of a "Bloody Friday" campaign targeting schools fueled public fear.

Prime Minister Donald Tusk has warned of a growing "fascination with violence" among young people, describing it as a worrying trend in Poland and around the world.

However, officials said investigators found no evidence that the attacks were coordinated and warned that misinformation and unverified threats circulating online were contributing to public panic.