Knife attack at Jarosław abbey kills priest and injures four
A 31-year-old Ukrainian citizen attacked five people at the Benedictine Sisters’ abbey in Jarosław, Poland, on September 24; a priest later died and four others were injured. The suspect was arrested, and prosecutors said he took the knife from the site’s kitchen. Authorities had not established a motive.
Key points
- The attack left one person dead and four injured among five people stabbed.
Evidence · 3 source statements
On the morning of 24 September, a 31-year-old Ukrainian citizen attacked four men and one woman with a knife on the grounds of the Jarosław Abbey on Benedyktyńska Street in the…
As a result of the attack, a priest was killed.
- The suspect was identified as a 31-year-old Ukrainian citizen and was arrested at the scene.
Evidence · 1 source statement
- The motive was not established in the reports, and the circumstances remained under investigation.
Evidence · 3 source statements
Authorities have not yet established a motive for the crime.
the circumstances of the attack remain under investigation.
Who's involved
Jarosław police
Police investigated the attack and reported the number and sexes of those stabbed.
Police said the attacker stabbed four men and one woman.
What they said · 2 source statements
The man stabbed four men and one woman, according to a statement on the local police website.
Polish police said four men and one woman were stabbed in the attack on Thursday morning on the abbey grounds.
Polish prosecutor’s office
Prosecutors investigated the suspect’s actions and the attack.
The office said the suspect entered the monastery grounds and likely encountered the people attacked in the kitchen area.
What they said · 2 source statements
The man trespassed onto the monastery grounds and then entered the kitchen area.
It was there that he likely encountered the first people who were subsequently attacked.
Volodymyr Zelensky
As Ukraine’s president, he responded to a crime committed by a Ukrainian citizen in Poland.
Zelensky called it a horrific crime and said a Catholic priest had been killed and several people injured.
What they said · 2 source statements
In the Convent of the Benedictine Sisters in Jarosław, a citizen of Ukraine committed a horrific crime.
According to the information available so far, a Catholic priest has been killed, and several other people have been injured.
Where accounts differ
Where the attack began
- Polish media reports cited by the BBC said the attacker first injured a priest in a nearby café, then attacked four other people inside the abbey.
Evidence · 1 source statement
Reports in Polish media said the attacker first injured a priest in a nearby cafe, and then another four people inside the abbey itself.
- Police and local officials were reported as saying the five people were stabbed on the abbey grounds.
Evidence · 2 source statements
Polish police said four men and one woman were stabbed in the attack on Thursday morning on the abbey grounds.
The attacker stabbed four men and one woman on the premises of the Benedectine Sisters' Abbey before police arrived at the scene the morning of Sept. 24, according to local…
These accounts differ on whether the first attack occurred at a nearby café or on the abbey grounds.
What was reported
- The attack took place at the Benedictine Sisters’ abbey in Jarosław, in southeastern Poland, on the morning of September 24.
Reported independently by 2: El País, The Kyiv Independent
Evidence · 2 source statements
The attacker stabbed four men and one woman on the premises of the Benedectine Sisters' Abbey before police arrived at the scene the morning of Sept. 24, according to local…
- Police said four men and one woman were stabbed.
Reported independently by 2: BBC News, TVN24
Evidence · 2 source statements
The man stabbed four men and one woman, according to a statement on the local police website.
Polish police said four men and one woman were stabbed in the attack on Thursday morning on the abbey grounds.
- Three of the five victims were clergy, including the priest who died; the other two were laypeople.
One source: Yonhap News Agency
Evidence · 1 source statement
- The priest died at a medical center after the attack, and four other people were injured.
Reported independently by 2: TVN24, The Hindu
Evidence · 2 source statements
“A stabbing at a Catholic convent in southeastern Poland on Thursday (September 24, 2026) left one person dead and four others wounded,”
- Prosecutors said the suspect entered the monastery grounds and took the knife used in the attack from the facility’s kitchen.
Reported independently by 3: Der Spiegel, European Pravda, South China Morning Post
Evidence · 3 source statements
The man trespassed onto the monastery grounds and then entered the kitchen area.
The man used a knife he took from a kitchen there to attack one woman and four men, including one priest who was in a confessional, a prosecutor said.
- The suspect was arrested after the attack.
One source: TVP
Evidence · 1 source statement
- Two injured people were reported to be in critical condition.
Reported independently by 2: TVN24, Yonhap News Agency
Evidence · 2 source statements
Two of the injured are in critical condition, according to TVN24.
Still unclear
- Authorities had not established a motive.
- The circumstances of the attack remained under investigation.
Not heard from
- The suspect — No statement from him appears in the reports.
- The victims and their families — No statement from the injured people or the dead priest’s family appears in the reports.
- The Benedictine Sisters’ abbey as an institution — The reports include information attributed to individuals associated with the site, but no institutional statement from the abbey.