Zagreb: Masked Student Stabs Classmate and Cleaner

A student at a high school in Zagreb entered the building masked this morning and stabbed a classmate and a school employee, the Zagreb Police Department said. The attack took place on Friday, September 11, around 8 a.m., shortly before the start of the first class. The case is being followed in Belgrade as well: Zagreb is just a few hours’ drive from the border, the two cities share much of their media space, and classroom safety is a topic that has repeatedly come up on this side of the border in recent years.

The school is located on Konavoska Street in Zagreb. The Croatian outlet Dnevno.hr refers to it as the Elektrostrojarska skola, an electrical and mechanical engineering school, while the outlet Gorica.info describes the same institution as a secondary school of electrical engineering. None of the available sources gave a consistent official name for the school.

According to witnesses from the school, the attacker entered the building that morning masked and carrying a knife, and the incident took place near the school restroom, before classes began.

“The student came to school masked. He attacked another student with a knife, and the cleaner stepped in front of the victim and was injured herself,” witnesses told the Croatian outlet Dnevno.hr.

According to the same source, the other students took shelter in their classrooms during the attack.

Police said the attacker, also a student at the same school, used a sharp object to injure a classmate and an employee of the institution, unofficially identified as the cleaner who tried to stop the attack. According to police, the injured were given medical assistance, and an on site investigation and criminal inquiry are underway to establish the full circumstances of the incident. The attacker is being held under police supervision, and his motive has not been officially disclosed.

Croatia’s Ministry of Health provided details about the injuries and the treatment of the victims.

“Regarding the incident at the educational institution on Konavoska Street, medical teams went to the scene immediately and treated everyone who needed medical care. Two injured people were taken to hospitals, KBC Sestre milosrdnice and KBC Zagreb. Initial diagnostic examination of the child has been completed, and surgery has been indicated due to deep stab wounds. The injured staff member of the institution is currently undergoing diagnostic examination for several superficial stab wounds. Both injured people currently have stable vital functions,” the ministry said in a statement.

The school sent students and parents a brief notice on its website.

“One student was injured, and his parents have been notified. All other students are fine. Classes have been canceled today,” the school’s notice reads.

Classes at the school were indeed canceled that day. Croatia’s Ministry of Science, Education and Youth confirmed that it sent representatives to the school as soon as it learned of the incident and announced the arrival of a crisis team.

“The Ministry of Science, Education and Youth has been informed of the incident at the school in Zagreb. As soon as we learned of the event, ministry representatives went to the school. We are also in contact with all the services involved in this event. A crisis team will also be sent to the school,” the ministry said in a statement.

For Serbia, the case is of interest also because school safety has repeatedly come into public focus across the region in recent years, not only in Croatia. Our newsroom had not previously reported on this case.

The Zagreb police criminal investigation is ongoing, and official information about the motive for the attack is expected once the on site inquiry is complete.