SARAJEVO – An attack by a teenager who broke into a police station in northwest Bosnia — killing one officer and wounding another — was described as an act of terrorism by authorities on Friday.
The assault happened around 9 p.m. in the town of Bosanska Krupa on Thursday. The assailant, born in 2009, went into the local police station and stabbed the officers in a “totally unprovoked” attack, police said.
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Prosecutors working to determine the motive and all the circumstances of the attack characterized it as a terrorist assault. They said the injured officer has been hospitalized and is in a stable condition.
“Unofficially, the motive is an attack on the institution, i.e. the police station as an authority with the aim of intimidating the population,” said Chief Prosecutor Merima Mesanovic. ”In addition to the motive, it will be checked whether he was encouraged to do this and whether there are any extreme groups behind him,” she added.
Local police chief Adnan Habibija said the authorities are surprised that a 14-year-old "dared to enter the police station and attack the police officers.”
“I think this is an alarm and we as a society should ask ourselves what is happening here,” he said.
Officials said they could not reveal more details of the attack because the suspect is a minor. Authorities have raised security measures following the attack.
A video from Bosanska Krupa showed a policeman standing in the street with a rifle.
Bosanska Krupa is located some 200 kilometers (120 miles) northwest of Bosnia’s capital, Sarajevo.