The officer died in the “Praga drug basin”. “When the police were setting candles yesterday, the trade was going on”

It was Saturday, around 14, when the police received a call about an aggressive man. He was supposed to be running with a machete in his hand in the yard of a tenement house in Warsaw's Praga district. During the intervention, one of the officers was killed by a police gunshot.

– The policemen were clearly shocked. You could see the anger as the policeman's friend, the second undercover officer, kicked the door. (…). You could see how shocked and catatonic the policeman who shot his colleague was. This man, who was running happily with a machete, could be heard shouting: “Karolina, f***ing love you, they're going to kill me.” Well, he didn't sound sober, says the witness.

– This policeman (who shot – ed.) was devastated, he was led by other officers to a police car that was literally standing next to the incident – adds Łukasz Rytel, City Reporter, who was also on site.

The policeman who died was an experienced crime branch officer. He was 35 years old and had two children.

– A huge tragedy has happened. Both for the family of the policeman who is dead and for the policeman who, acting in error, pulled the trigger. He simply misread the situation, says Andrzej Kawczyński, retired head of the Department for Combating Criminal Terror and Homicide at the KSP.

It turns out that the man with the machete, in whose case the officers intervened, is well known to the police, among others. from drug crimes. For many years he had been causing problems for local residents and starting quarrels.

In the yard of the tenement house there is also a Praga community center. As activists from the Praga Station informed on social media, they repeatedly alerted the services about the situation in the tenement house.

– There have already been proceedings conducted against this man. It concerned criminal threats, causing bodily injury and possession of drugs – says prosecutor Norbert Woliński, press spokesman for the Warsaw-Praga District Prosecutor's Office in Warsaw.

36-year-old Artur C. was temporarily arrested. Journalists “Attention!” they were talking to his partner.

– The police arrived by surprise and he started to run away because he was “sniffling”. He didn't have any machete, he was without a weapon. It was someone else who had the machete. He was drunk and that's why he ran away – says the 36-year-old's partner.

The area where the tragedy occurred does not have a good reputation. Many people say that it is the “Prague drug basin”. According to our informant, drug sales are still going strong there even after the tragedy. – Yesterday, when the police were setting candles, the trade was going on – we hear.

– We're afraid. When opioids are involved, people have no inhibitions – adds our interlocutor.

The drug gang is supposed to be well organized.

– When you pass by them, you hear: “hide, hide”. There is a lookout on the street, and the trade itself takes place in a tenement well, behind a barricade of furniture. I suspect that they have some places to escape there and that as soon as the police arrive, the goods disappear – says our interlocutor.

Journalist “Attention!” he found a fireworks launcher on the street. A few blocks away there is the famous so-called Bermuda Triangle. This is a place where the drug trade flourishes. Such launchers are used by traders to inform “customers” about the delivery of new goods.

– After 5 p.m., several hundred people pass through there, several people per minute. The goods are usually available all the time, and when there is a shortage, the gentlemen announce a new delivery by shooting fireworks – adds our interlocutor.

There are comments that the tragedy in Praga is the result of the bad situation in the Polish police: underfunding, lack of employment, lowering the requirements for new recruits.

– First of all, the etiology of these events goes deeper. Here we must look at the fact that the recruitment criteria for the police have been lowered. Among other things, psychophysical preparation, in this particular case we were most likely dealing with the lack of ability to cope with stress of this single, young officer – says Andrzej Mroczek, former policeman, security expert, Collegium Civitas. – Incorrect assessment of the situation. As a result, he lost his temper, couldn't stand it and behaved in such an inappropriate way.

According to the specialist, the policeman should not have used his weapon in these circumstances, even if he did not identify the person as the officer. However, he emphasized that we are not able to shed light on everything because the prosecutor's office will deal with it.

– There are police intelligence agents working here who know this area very well and they came and were called to neutralize this threat. The policemen who came here right after school remained on the street, at least one of them. He was the so-called “curb”. He stood there, secured this situation, misjudged it, and fired at this man. The dynamics of this situation probably meant that there was no time to exchange this information – says Bertold Kittel, a journalist from “Superwizjer”.

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