A 19-year-old student was shot dead and a 23-year-old woman was critically injured when a gang attacked students celebrating the end of the academic year in the central city of Lodz, police said today.
Up to 100 hooligans attacked the students on the campus of Lodz University late last night, and then turned on police with bricks, stones, bottles, and metal rods, provincial police spokesman Mr Tomasz Klimczak said.
Three policemen were injured in the clashes, up to 70 people were treated for injuries, and some 19 rioters were detained.
Police brought the melee under control after firing at the rioters with rubber bullets, police said, noting that the use of firearms in public disturbances was rare in Poland.
National police headquarters has set up a special team to investigate the incident, PAP news agency reported.
