VIDEOS, PHOTO: Policeman stabbed to death in Budapest – UPDATED

The events happened in Budapest’s Lecke Street, police.hu wrote. The attacker had only one knife but managed to injure all three police officers trying to restrain him. The ambulance took to hospital all the officers and the attacker. One of the officers lost his life in the hospital.

According to a reader of index.hu, there were a lot of police officers on the street. He counted more than 30 police cars on the corner of Etele and Fehérvári streets. According to the statement of the police, the dead officer’s name was Péter Baumann, and his rank was sergeant major. He would have celebrated his 30th birthday this February. Here is a photo of him:

A photo of Péter Baumann. Photo: MTI/Zoltán Máthé

Because of the tragic events, police buildings and cars will wear black mourning bands today.

According to origo.hu, Mr Baumann joined the police 9.5 years ago. Kristóf Gaál, a spokesman of the police, told origo.hu that he was a very good person. Furthermore, his 2022 performance was exceptional, he was a well-prepared officer. The two injured officers were visited by interior minister Sándor Pintér and Budapest’s police chief, Tamás Terdik in the hospital.

The chief prosecutor investigating in the issue said that the officers who shot the attacker saved multiple lives. That is because the armed man could have harmed more people travelling on a tram arriving at the nearby station where he was finally made harmless. Péter Baumann will be declared a hero’s death.

• Read also: VIDEO: Hungarian stabbed a Ukrainian man in Budapest for no apparent reason

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán expressed his condolences to the family of the police officer who was stabbed to death. Speaking on public Kossuth Rádió on Friday, Orbán said such occurrences were rare, and law enforcement were doing a good job.

The last similar case happened on the Christmas of 2020 in Hungary in a block of flats in Újpest, Budapest’s 4th district. The officers arrived at 7 AM because they were alerted for bluster. However, a man attacked them and stabbed one of them. The officer’s partner, a policewoman killed the man, and the police officer was taken to hospital with serious injuries.

UPDATE 2 – VIDEOS

In THIS article you may check out some photos taken on the venue of the tragedy. Moreover, HERE is a video about how one of the police officers shot the perpetrator in the leg.

Below you may watch a video of how police units rushed to Újbuda after the stabbing:

Here is another video made by a resident living in neighbouring flat and shard on TikTok:

@dyh61m0hx6hv

♬ Bandoleros – Don Omar

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, deputy 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.

Zoltán Sas, the (Jobbik) head of parliament’s national security committee, said Hungarian police should be equipped with body cameras to capture police activity and to act as a deterrent. Cases like this one require a full investigation before any conclusions can be drawn, Sas said on Facebook. “But one thing is certain: one young police officer has died and two have been seriously injured,” Sas said, expressing his condolences to the officer’s family and colleagues.

Párbeszéd’s Richárd Barabás, deputy mayor of Budapest’s 11th district, also expressed his condolences on Facebook, adding it was “unfathomable that such an incident can occur”. He wished a speedy recovery to the injured officers and strength to their families and friends. He said black flags will be hoisted on the district local council’s buildings in honour of the slain officer.