The man was arrested. He was charged with active assault on officers. He faces up to 10 years in prison.
The incident occurred on December 14, 2015. That day, the accused Grzegorz Z. learned that he would not get a job at the place where he had been doing an internship. Because of this and his financial problems, his mood deteriorated. In the afternoon, he drank alcohol.
After returning home, he was agitated and aggressive. His common-law partner, knowing what such an emotional state meant for him, called the police and asked them to intervene. She wanted her partner to be taken to a sobering-up center.
Grzegorz Z. heard that his partner had called the police. He prepared two swords and waited for the officers to arrive, holding them in his hands.
When they arrived, the woman opened the door for them. The accused then stepped into the stairwell and began waving swords measuring 32 and 49 cm at the police officers. At the same time, he vulgarly threatened to kill them.
Grzegorz Z. mainly attacked the police officer below him, forcing him to retreat and move down the stairs. The officer ordered him to stop the attack. This had no effect. Seeing the escalating aggression and a serious threat to his life, the officer then fired twice in his direction. First, he fired a warning shot into the wall; when the warning did not change the man’s behavior, he shot him in the left thigh.
Despite this, the man continued attacking the officer. When the light went out in the stairwell, the officer hid behind a column, and the accused fled downstairs. The officers then ran after him and subdued him, putting him in handcuffs. In addition to the swords, they found a metal angle bar and a folding knife on him.
The man was taken to hospital, where he received medical attention. The gunshot wound to the thigh in the groin area caused bodily injuries lasting less than seven days and therefore did not endanger the accused’s life. A sobriety test showed that Grzegorz Z. had 2.59‰ of alcohol in his blood. After being treated, he was taken to a psychiatric hospital.
When a doctor determined that procedural activities could be carried out with the above-mentioned person, the prosecutor detained him and charged him with active assault on police officers using dangerous tools. At the prosecutor’s request, Grzegorz Z. was also remanded in temporary custody.
The investigation established that the accused had been aggressive in the past. On August 17, 2015, he wounded his common-law partner with a kitchen knife, causing a 10-cm-deep stab wound to her back that impaired bodily functions for more than seven days. The above-mentioned person was charged in that case. He pleaded guilty and applied for voluntary submission to punishment. His common-law partner did not object.
Later… she moved in with the accused again because he promised to change.
Grzegorz Z. was examined by psychiatrists. They found no mental illness or other disorders that could have affected his criminal responsibility.
The above-mentioned person pleaded guilty. The case will be heard by the District Court in Legnica.
At the same time, the Legnica prosecutor’s office discontinued proceedings examining whether the police officer had exceeded his authority by shooting at Grzegorz Z. It was determined that the officer had acted properly and had full grounds to use his weapon because of the danger to his life posed by the man attacking him with sharp tools.
Liliana Łukasiewicz, press spokesperson for the District Prosecutor’s Office in Legnica/ii