A tragic accident during a police intervention in Warsaw has resulted in the death of an officer. The incident occurred on Inżynierska Street in the Praga district when officers responded to reports of a man behaving aggressively and wielding a machete in a tenement courtyard.
Initial reports indicate that two police teams were involved. The first, consisting of plainclothes officers from the Patrol and Reconnaissance Unit, called for backup. A uniformed patrol arrived, including an experienced officer and a young trainee.
In a devastating turn of events, the trainee mistook one of the plainclothes officers for the armed suspect and opened fire. Despite the efforts of three medical teams, the officer, identified as Sergeant Mateusz, succumbed to his injuries at the hospital.
Mateusz, a senior officer with the Warsaw-Targówek Police Department, leaves behind a wife and two children. Over 20 police units and a prosecutor have been dispatched to the scene, and the police’s internal affairs unit has launched an investigation.
The suspect with the machete, a Polish citizen, was eventually apprehended. Authorities continue to examine the circumstances surrounding the tragedy.