A police officer on duty was stabbed to death and two others were injured in Budapest’s 11th district late on Thursday, the police said on its website. The officers were in a unit alerted to a block of flats by residents after a violent neighbour had attempted to break into a home. The intruder assaulted the police officers and fled onto the street, where he was shot in the leg and captured. The three injured officers were rushed to hospital but one of them could not be saved, the website said. Later on Friday, the central prosecutor of investigations said the stabbing had not been an act of terrorism. Pál Furcht said an investigation into homicide and homicide attempt was under way. He added that the perpetrator was in custody and was being questioned.
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán expressed his condolences with the family of the deceased officer. Speaking on public Kossuth Radio, Orbán said such occurrences were rare, and law enforcement were doing a good job.
Police spokesperson Kristóf Gál said proceedings have been initiated to declare the deceased officer as one who died a hero’s death in the line of duty. He also expressed his fellow staff members’ sympathy with the officer’s family.
Parties of the opposition voiced their regret to family members of the victim and wished a speedy recovery to the two injured policemen. Klára Dobrev, shadow prime minister of the Democratic Coalition, called the incident a “terrible tragedy”. She said the death of a young officer that had made an oath to “protect our safety and public order even at the cost of his life” was an “inconceivable loss”. Előd Novák, head of the radical Mi Hazánk party, proposed that the officer should be promoted posthumously, and proposed a reward to the other policemen that had captured the perpetrator. He said he would propose that parliament broaden police officers’ rights to use their weapons when on duty, as well as to equip them with protective gear.
Gergely Karácsony, the mayor of Budapest, contacted Budapest police chief Tamás Terdik to obtain information on the “shocking murder of police” and offered the city’s help to the victim’s family.