A 13-year-old schoolboy has been detained after allegedly attacking a teacher and two pupils with a knife at a school in northwestern Slovakia, leaving one teacher dead and two others injured.
The incident occurred around 7:00am on Tuesday in the village of Staskov, near Slovakia’s border with the Czech Republic, according to authorities.
Slovak police said the teenager was taken into custody and is being investigated on suspicion of premeditated murder.
Interior Minister Matus Sutaj Estok said the attack happened shortly after the first lesson began.
“This morning, after the first class, a school pupil launched a knife attack,” he told reporters.
Emergency services spokeswoman Petra Klimesova said a 61-year-old woman died from injuries sustained in the attack. A 44-year-old woman suffered a stab wound to the chest, while a girl was also injured.
The injured girl was in a serious and critical condition, Health Minister Kamil Sasko said. The interior minister later confirmed that the injured teacher’s life was not in danger.
Police said the situation in the village had been brought under control.
Education Minister Tomas Drucker declined to comment on whether bullying may have been a factor in the incident.
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico expressed condolences to the victims’ families and said he was following the incident with concern.
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President Peter Pellegrini also condemned the attack, saying he was shocked that another student had attacked teachers and a fellow pupil.
He called for efforts to reduce aggression and intolerance in society, particularly amid concerns about the influence of social media and public discourse on young people.
The latest incident comes after a similar attack in Slovakia in January 2025, when an 18-year-old killed a teacher and another student and injured another pupil at a secondary school in Spisska Stara Ves.
In 2020, a teacher was stabbed to death and several others wounded during an attack at an elementary school in central Slovakia.
Slovakia, a European Union and NATO member with a population of about 5.4 million, has experienced relatively few violent attacks at schools compared with some other countries.