Knifeman kills priest, injures four in attack at Polish abbey

A ​Polish priest died on Thursday ‌and four ​other people were injured when a Ukrainian man armed with a knife attacked clergy and worshippers ‌at a Benedictine abbey in southern Poland, a prosecutor said on Thursday.

The attack happened at a Benedictine Sisters monastery on the grounds of the abbey in Jaroslaw, local ‌media earlier reported. "We know that the act was committed by a 31-year-old Ukrainian ‌national who had entered Poland from Germany earlier today," said Bozena Harasz-Woloszyn from the District Prosecutor's Office in Przemysl.

Harasz-Woloszyn said the attacker used a knife he took from a kitchen on ⁠the premises ​to attack four ⁠men and one woman, including one priest who was in a confessional. "Three of the victims ⁠are clergy members and two are laypeople; one person has died," she said. "Two people ​are in a critical, life-threatening condition."

The motives behind the attack were not ⁠immediately clear. Police said they were on the scene investigating the incident. "We are aware that Father ⁠Stanislaw ​has passed away and Father Marek is in serious condition; there are other casualties, but we do not have further details," Sister Barbara Dendor told ⁠state broadcaster TVP Info.

"When I arrived, there was total panic," she said. The ⁠mayor of Jaroslaw, ⁠Marcin Nazarewicz, told a press conference that a period of mourning was being declared until the end of the week.