List of killings by law enforcement officers in Poland
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This is a list of people killed by non-military law enforcement officers in Poland, both on duty and off, and regardless of reason or method. Inclusion in the lists implies neither wrongdoing nor justification on the part of the person killed or the officer involved; the listing merely documents the occurrence of a death.
| Date | Name (age) of deceased |
Place | Voivodeship | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-07-31 | N.N. (45) | Sosnowiec | Silesian Voivodeship | Police responded to reports of a man with a machete damaging parked cars and a bus. He was shot five times, and died in hospital. It was later revealed that he was actually holding a metal pipe.[1] |
| 2024-11-23 | N.N. (35) | Warsaw | Masovian Voivodeship | While responding to a report of an aggressive man wielding a machete, a junior officer shot his colleague, who died in hospital.[2] |
| 2021-12-16 | Tomasz N. | Wydminy | Warmian–Masurian Voivodeship | Police officer Mateusz C. shot a drunk man resisting arrest at very close range, killing him. Another officer was injured after the bullet passed through the man's body and struck her wrist. Mateusz C. was fired and given a one-year suspended prison sentence.[3] |
| 2021-04-19 | Łukasz P. (36) | Ruda Śląska | Silesian Voivodeship | Police officers shot dead man after he rammed three police cars and aimed at the officers with a gun.[4] |
| 2020-12-22 | N.N. (32) | Płock | Masovian Voivodeship | Police officers used tear gas against an aggressively behaving driver, who later died in a hospital.[5] |
| 2020-06-27 | Dariusz Nawara (28) | Kościelisko | Lesser Poland Voivodeship | Police officer shot dead man accused of robbery.[6] |
| 2020-06-18 | N.N. (31) | Żyrardów | Masovian Voivodeship | Police officer shot dead woman who attacked him with knife after stabbing a man.[7] |
| 2019-11-14 | Adam Czerniejewski (21)[8] | Konin | Greater Poland Voivodeship | Police officer shot dead man who tried to escape from identity check. He was armed with scissors.[9][10] |
| 2019-07-26 | N.N. (30) | Lipsko | Masovian Voivodeship | Police officer shot and killed man who attacked him with knife.[11] |
| 2018-07-21 | N.N. | Olsztyn | Warmian–Masurian Voivodeship | Police officer shot seven times drunk man who tried to escape from police. He died the next day in hospital. The officer was criminally charged.[12] |
| 2018-05-23 | N.N. (43) | Opole | Opole Voivodeship | Police officer shot dead man armed with pneumatic gun who was vandalizing a police car.[13] |
| 2017-12-15 | Adrian Z. | Kraków | Lesser Poland Voivodeship | Counter-terrorism officer fatally shot a gangster during arrest[14] |
| 2017-12-02 | N.N. (42) | Wisznia Mała | Lower Silesian Voivodeship | Police officers shot dead man who opened machine gun fire on them, which killed an officer and wounded three others.[15] |
| 2017-06-21 | N.N | Milicz | Lower Silesian Voivodeship | Two men broke into a gas station and stole cigarettes in Dobrzyca, Greater Poland Voivodeship. They then crossed the border into Lower Silesian Voivodeship while being pursued on foot by police through a forest. One of the thieves shot a police officer in the neck; the shooter was then shot in the leg and died of his wounds at the scene.[16][17] |
| 2016-12-31 | Cezary S. | Żychlin | Łódź Voivodeship | Police officer Łukasz M. killed a trader of cigarettes and alcohol Cezary S. with six gunshots, to whom he owed 20,000 PLN[18] |
| 2016-08-12 | Cezary S. | Szczecin | West Pomeranian Voivodeship | Police officer shot dead man who tried to escape from road check. He was sentenced to one and a half years in prison in 2019[19] |
| 2016-05-15 | Igor Stachowiak (26) | Wrocław | Lower Silesian Voivodeship | Igor Stachowiak was tased multiple times by four police officers, which may have caused his death. The officers were sentenced to from 2 to 2.5 years in prison in 2019[20] |
| 2015-12-21 | N.N. | Gdynia | Pomeranian Voivodeship | A man was shot after he opened fire on police officers that entered his apartment while carrying out an arrest warrant. He was wanted in connection to a murder.[21] |
| 2015-05-02 | Dawid D. (27) | Knurów | Silesian Voivodeship | Pseudo-fan died after being shot with rubber bullet during riots after football match. Police officer who killed him was later cleared of charges[22] |
| 2014-12-15 | N.N. | Sosnowiec | Silesian Voivodeship | Police officer shot dead man who robbed the bank[23] |
| 2014-07-14 | N.N. (56) | Ruda Śląska | Silesian Voivodeship | Police officers shot an aggressively behaving psychiatric hospital patient in the thigh and torso. He died later on the operating table[24] |
| 2011-01-15 | Andrzej Swoszowski (28) | Tuchów | Lesser Poland Voivodeship | Police officers opened fire at a stolen car[25] |
| 2010-10-10 | N.N. (69) | Żar | Silesian Voivodeship, | Police officers shot dead man who opened fire on them[26] |
| 2010-05-24 | Maxwell Itoya | Warsaw | Masovian Voivodeship | Maxwell Itoya died after being shot when trying to talk to the policeman[27] |
| 2009-10-16 | Krzysztof K. | Duszniki | Greater Poland Voivodeship | Man died after shootout with police[28] |
| 2009-06-13 | Grzegorz P. | Borucza | Masovian Voivodeship | Police officer shot dead a mentally ill man who attacked him with a knife. He was later cleared of charges.[29] |
| 2006-07-27 | Marcin K. (21) | Chodel | Lublin Voivodeship | Motorcyclist was shot ten times after failed to stop for a security check. He died from spine wounds[30] |
| 2004-10-09 | N.N. | Kutno | Łódź Voivodeship | Police officers shot dead gangster during arrest[31] |
| 2004-05-08 | Monika Kelm (23) | Łódź | Łódź Voivodeship | Police shot dead two people during riots[32] |
| Damian Tybura (19) | ||||
| 2004-04-29 | Łukasz T. (19) | Poznań | Greater Poland Voivodeship | Police officers opened fire at car which failed to stop for a security check.[33] |
| 2003-06-13 | Józef Ł. | Zielona Góra | Lubusz Voivodeship | Police officers shot dead gangster who was trying to steal his gun[34] |
| 2003-01-21 | Piotr R. | Warsaw | Masovian Voivodeship | Two gangsters were killed in shootout with police.[35] |
| Krzysztof M. | ||||
| 2002-08-06 | N.N. (37) | Wola Podłężna | Greater Poland Voivodeship | Man was killed in shootout with police after he shot them with shotgun[36] |
| 2002-06-22 | N.N. | Tomaszów Lubelski | Lublin Voivodeship | Man was killed in shootout with police after trying to rob bureau de change with gas weapon[37] |
| 2001-01-28 | Sierhij K. | Świdnik | Lublin Voivodeship | He was shot dead after he didn't stop for security check[38] |
| 2000-06-23 | N.N. | Głogów | Lower Silesian Voivodeship | Police officers shot dead man who opened fire on them[39] |
| 2000-03-14 | Ryszard Karczewski | Warsaw | Masovian Voivodeship | Police officer mistakenly shot and killed a vet while trying to catch tiger that escaped from a circus.[40] |
| 2000-01-08 | Krzysztof P. (26) | Warsaw | Masovian Voivodeship | Police officers shot dead car thief[41] |
| 1999-10-15 | Valeri Bermes (34) | Kraków | Lesser Poland Voivodeship | Anti-terrorist units killed gangster after he opened fire on them[42] |
| 1999-06-16 | Michał Filipek (23) | Sosnowiec | Silesian Voivodeship | He was killed by four police officers who have beaten him with batons. Three of them were later sentenced to years in prison.[43] |
| 1998-01-10 | Przemysław Czaja (13) | Słupsk | Słupsk Voivodeship (now part of Pomeranian Voivodeship) | During the 1998 Słupsk street riots, police officer caught up to a member of the group crossing the street on red light, the 13-year-old Przemysław Czaja, and repeatedly hit his head and neck using his baton. At 8:20 p.m. the boy died.[44] |
| 1997-03-09 | Robert R. (25) | Warsaw | Warsaw Voivodeship (now part of Masovian Voivodeship) | Police officer was trying to catch a criminal. He shot his firearm into the air which alarmed men who approached him while carrying baseball bats. He shot two of them dead and injured third. In 1999 he was sentenced for years in prison, however he was pardoned by president Aleksander Kwaśniewski in 2002.[45][46] |
| Stanisław Ż. (54) | ||||
| 1997-01-06 | Robert J. (19) | Łomazy | Biała Podlaska Voivodeship (now part of Lublin Voivodeship) | Police officer shot dead man during interrogation at the police station. He was later sentenced for 15 years in prison[47] |
1945–1990
| Date | Name (age) of deceased |
Description |
|---|---|---|
| 1984-10-19 | Jerzy Popiełuszko (37) | He was beaten to death by three Security Police officers.[48] |
| 1982-10-13 | Bogdan Włosik (20) | Killed by an officer of the Security Service during a steelworkers' demonstration[49] |
| 1981-12-17 | Antoni Browarczyk (20) | Shot in the head by a Milicja Obywatelska officer[50] |
| 1981-12-16 | Andrzej Pełka (19) | Striking miners killed during the Pacification of the Wujek mine.[51] |
| Zenon Zając (31) | ||
| Zbigniew Wilk (30) | ||
| Bogusław Kopczak (28) | ||
| Ryszard Józef Gzik (35) | ||
| Józef Krzysztof Giza (24) | ||
| Joachim Józef Gnida (28) | ||
| Józef Czekalski (48) | ||
| Jan Stawisiński (21) | ||
| 1970-12 | Jerzy Matelski | Killed during the December 1970 protests in Poland[52] |
| Józef Widerlik | ||
| Kazimierz Stojecki | ||
| Andrzej Peszyński | ||
| Stefan Mosiewicz | ||
| Kazimierz Zastawny | ||
| Bogdan Sypka | ||
| Zygmunt Polito | ||
| Zygmunt Gliniecki | ||
| Jerzy Kuchcik | ||
| Waldemar Zajczenko | ||
| Brunon Drywa | ||
| Stanisław Sieradzan | ||
| Zbigniew Godlewski | ||
| Ludwik Piernicki | ||
| Jan Kałużny | ||
| Zbigniew Wycichowski | ||
| Józef Pawiowski | ||
| Jan Polechoński | ||
| Zbigniew Nastały | ||
| Marian Wójcik | ||
| Stanisław Lewandowski | ||
| Janusz Żebrowski | ||
| Jerzy Skonieczka | ||
| Apolinary Formela | ||
| 1970-12-18 | Tadeusz Marian Sawicz (22) | Shot in the head by a police officer while walking out of a milk bar[53] |
| 1970-12-15 | Waldemar Rebinin (26) | Killed during the Polish protests of 1970[54] |
| 1951-05-10 | Józef Padewski (57) | He was tortured to death by officers of the Ministry of Public Security of Poland |
| 1947-05-04 | Edward Cytrian | Police officer shot dead boy in Mały Płock during an event.[55] |