13-year-old stabs teacher to death, injures two in Slovakia school attack

A 13-year-old pupil has allegedly stabbed a teacher to death and seriously injured two others in an attack at an elementary school in northwestern Slovakia, authorities said.

According to AP News, the attack occurred on Tuesday in Staškov, a small town near Slovakia’s borders with the Czech Republic and Poland.

Police said the 13-year-old suspect was taken into custody and that the situation was under control, with no further threat to the public.

The victim was a 61-year-old female teacher, while those injured included a pupil who was in critical condition and a 41-year-old female teacher who suffered serious injuries, Slovakia’s rescue service said.

Authorities have not disclosed a motive for the attack.

President Peter Pellegrini said he was “deeply saddened by the tragic incident” and expressed condolences to the victims’ families.

“Such events serve as a serious warning to our entire society,” Pellegrini said, calling for greater calm, respect and mutual regard.

Prime Minister Robert Fico also offered condolences to the families of those affected, while Interior Minister Matúš Šutaj Eštok, Education Minister Tomáš Drucker and Health Minister Kamil Šaško travelled to Staškov following the incident.

The latest attack comes after a series of violent incidents at schools in Slovakia in recent years.

In 2025, an 18-year-old student fatally stabbed a 51-year-old deputy principal and another 18-year-old student at a high school in northern Slovakia. In 2020, a 22-year-old former student attacked a high school in Vrutky, killing the deputy principal and injuring five people, including two students while in 2022, a high school student attacked and injured a female pupil at a school in Novaky.