Fort Towson

Grenade launcher firing in Polish Police Headquarters

Incident

2022-12-19 https://www.pap.pl/aktualnosci/news%2C1511983%2Cwybuch-w-komendzie-glownej-policji-premier-zabral-glos.html

Initial response

Initial reports

On December 15, Poland's Interior Ministry issued a statement that on the previous day at 7:50 AM one of the gifts the police chief received during his working visit to Ukraine on December 11 and 12 exploded in a room next to his office. 2022-12-15 https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/dec/15/poland-police-chief-jaroslaw-szymczyk-wounded-when-gift-from-ukraine-explodes 2022-12-16 https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/dec/16/poland-police-chief-jaroslaw-szymczyk-fired-grenade-launcher-gift-ukraine. Szymczyk was lightly injured and was taken to a hospital for observation [then released shortly thereafter, and say when]. A civilian employee was also hurt but did not require hospitalization.

The grenade launcher model was unofficially identified as RGW-90 HH MATADOR by reporters from the TVN TV station. 2022-12-16 https://tvn24.pl/tvnwarszawa/najnowsze/wybuch-w-komendzie-glownej-policji-jak-dziala-granatnik-rgw-90-hh-st6509386

Interviews with Szymczyk

In an interview, Szymczyk told the RMF FM radio station that during his visit to Ukraine, he received two used anti-tank grenade launchers as gifts, one of them turned into a loudspeaker. Szymczyk said that an explosion occured when he was moving them, with the force of the shot puncturing the floor and damaging the ceiling. RMF FM cited a source from the Polish delegation that visited Ukraine that the Ukrainian officials had assured them that the launchers were not loaded. According to the source, the grenade launchers were taken to Warsaw by car and left in the back room of Szymczyk's office. 2022-12-17 https://www.rmf24.pl/regiony/warszawa/news-eksplozja-w-kgp-rmf-fm-jako-pierwsze-rozmawialo-z-gen-szymcz,nId,6477560 2022-12-17 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-64010682 2022-12-17 https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/polands-top-cop-accidentally-set-grenade-launcher-gifted-ukraine-rcna62273 2022-12-18 https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/12/18/grenade-launcher-gifted-by-ukraine-wounds-polish-police-chief

[TODO: Rzeczpospolita interview]

[TODO: when citing Szymczyk and the ministry it may be better to use direct quotations since we are less interested in describing accurately, as we will do this earlier, and more interested in how the initial response unfolded]

[explains with whom the gift exchange was] 2022-12-19 https://www.polskieradio.pl/395/7784/artykul/3089493,polish-police-chief-says-he-is-victim-of-grenade-incident

Investigation

Initial proceedings

On 2023-01-09 https://www.pap.pl/aktualnosci/news%2C1518910%2Ckomisja-sejmowa-zajmie-sie-sprawa-wybuchu-w-kgp.html [...]. The hearings were initially supposed to be open-door, but were closed upon the request of the vice-minister of the Interior and Administration Maciej Wąsik made on the day before. 2023-01-10 https://www.rp.pl/polityka/art37750781-posiedzenie-w-sprawie-granatnika-w-kgp-odroczone-to-kpina-z-obywateli The meeting was however postponed shortly after it commenced. The commission's president Wiesław Szczepański from the Left explained that he decided to stop and reschedule the meeting because Szymczyk, the Minister of the Interior and Administration Mariusz Kamiński, and the prosecutor were not present, as Wąsik and the deputy chiefs of the Polish Police and the Polish Border Guard were delegated instead. 2023-01-10 https://www.pap.pl/aktualnosci/news%2C1519493%2Cwybuch-granatnika-w-kgp-posiedzenie-komisji-odroczone.html 2023-01-13 https://www.pap.pl/aktualnosci/news%2C1521165%2Cujawniony-protokol-z-obrad-sejmowej-komisji-ws-eksplozji-w-kgp.html

On 6 December 2023 RMF FM reported that its reporter Krzysztof Zasada obtained new information, according to which there were in fact three grenade launchers found in Szymczyk's office, in addition to three bottles of alcohol. The grenade was not propelled into the floor, but ceiling, and having pierced which it flied into the above room where it destroyed a chair and a table, then fell into a wardrobe without exploding. The hole in Szymczyk's office floor as seen on the photos revealed by MP Krzysztof Brejza was actually created by the grenade launcher's propulsion engine. 2023-12-06 https://www.rmf24.pl/fakty/news-wybuch-granatnika-w-komendzie-glownej-policji-nowe-ustalenia,nId,7193100.

On 12 December 2023 Szymczyk retired, ceasing to be the Polish Police Chief. 2023-12-07 https://polskieradio24.pl/5/1222/artykul/3295567,szef-policji-odchodzi-ze-sluzby-general-jaroslaw-szymczyk-przejdzie-na-emeryture

Inspection and prosecution

On 3 January 2024 the MSWiA's Department of Control started an inspection in the Polish Police Headquarters in connection with the incident. An initial reported finding was that neither Biuro Spraw Wewnętrznych nor the ministerial Biuro Nadzoru Wewnętrznego looked into the affair. 2024-01-03 https://tvn24.pl/polska/wybuch-granatnika-w-gabinecie-jaroslawa-szymczyka-bylego-szefa-policji-sa-pierwsze-ustalenia-kontroli-st7688266.

On 23 January 2024 the new director of MSWiA Marcin Kierwiński presented its classified results, enumerating a total of 27 infringements and announcing that two criminal complaints will be filed, one for illegally transporting a weapon onto the Polish territory and the other for criminal negligence by not ordering an emergency evacuation. 2024-02-23 https://www.pap.pl/aktualnosci/wybuch-granatnika-w-komendzie-glownej-ujawniono-wyniki-kontroli 2024-02-23 https://wiadomosci.onet.pl/warszawa/gen-szymczyk-odpowie-za-odpalenie-granatnika-bedzie-zawiadomienie-do-prokuratury/vq02vjz 2024-02-26 https://notesfrompoland.com/2024/02/26/polish-interior-minister-seek-charges-over-grenade-launcher-explosion-in-police-chiefs-office/ 2024-02-23 https://www.gov.pl/web/mswia/minister-marcin-kierwinski-przedstawil-wyniki-kontroli-w-kgp-w-zwiazku-z-wystrzalem-z-granatnika. The prosecutor's office received the complaints on 1 February 2024. 2024-03-05 https://www.rp.pl/policja/art39944171-wybuch-granatnika-w-gabinecie-komendanta-policji-jest-nowe-doniesienie-do-prokuratury and started an investigation. 2024-03-11 https://www.pap.pl/aktualnosci/eksplozja-granatnika-w-kgp-jest-decyzja-prokuratury

Between 2015 and 2021 there was a dramatic increase in landfill fires in Poland. According to Statistics Poland, X landfills burned between 2015 and 2021, peaking at 243 fires in 2018. [a bit misleading, as the problem continues]