A priest was killed and four other people wounded after a knife-wielding attacker allegedly stormed a historic monastery complex in Poland and unleashed a terrifying attack just before Mass.
The violence erupted around 9:30 a.m. Thursday at the Benedictine Sisters’ Abbey in Jarosław, a city in southeastern Poland near the Ukrainian border.
Police said a 31-year-old Ukrainian citizen attacked four men and a woman before officers arrested him.
One of the victims, identified by church officials as Father Stanisław Zbojnowicz, later died from his injuries.
Another priest, Father Marek Pieńkowski, was seriously wounded and underwent emergency surgery.
Sister Barbara Dendor said the scene descended into complete panic.
Young people emerging from a nearby center were reportedly shouting that a man was attacking people as the chaos unfolded.
According to church officials, the violence began shortly before a Mass was scheduled to take place at the Church of St. Nicholas and St. Stanislaus Bishop, located within the abbey complex.
Sister Dendor said the attacker allegedly entered the church area carrying a large knife and first confronted one priest.
Other people then tried to intervene.
Father Marek reportedly came out of a confessional and attempted to help before he too was attacked.
Emergency crews rushed the wounded to hospitals as police swarmed the monastery grounds.
Prosecutors said the victims suffered stab wounds and that investigators believe a kitchen-style knife may have been used.
Three of the wounded were initially described by police as seriously injured.
Confusion surrounded the death toll for several hours.
The Rzeszów Cathedral initially announced that Father Marek had also died, which would have brought the number of fatalities to two.
But the church quickly withdrew that statement, saying the information had been released amid the chaos surrounding the attack.
Officials later confirmed Father Marek was alive and undergoing surgery.
Polish authorities continued to report one confirmed death and four injured victims Thursday evening.
The suspect was taken into custody immediately after the attack and was being held while police and prosecutors worked to reconstruct exactly what happened.
Authorities have not announced a motive.
Poland’s interior minister described the events as tragic and said investigators were examining both the circumstances and motive behind the stabbing.
The Benedictine community also confirmed that children attending a preschool operated by the sisters were safe and were not involved in the attack.
The monastery, a centuries-old Catholic complex in Jarosław, became a massive crime scene as investigators collected evidence and interviewed witnesses.
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