Polish mayor dies after being stabbed in heart at charity event

The popular liberal mayor of the Polish port city of Gdansk died on Monday after he was stabbed during a charity event the previous evening by an exconvict who stormed onstage and said it was revenge against the country’s main opposition party.

Pawel Adamowicz, 53, died as a result of wounds to the heart and abdomen in spite of efforts to save him that involved a fivehour operation and blood transfusions, Health Minister Lukasz Szumowski said.

“The fight for his life has been lost,” Szumowski said.

The assassination of Adamowicz, a six-term mayor who often mingled freely with citizens of his city, sent Poland into shock.

Even before his death was announced, marches against violence were being planned to take place across Poland in the evening. In Gdansk, the city flag was lowered to half-staff and Masses were planned, including one in Warsaw that Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki planned to attend. The right-wing ruling Law and Justice party faced accusations from its critics that an atmosphere of hatred against Adamowicz and other liberal political opponents helped instigate the attack.

Government officials pushed back against that accusation, strongly denouncing the attack and stressing that the 27-year-old perpetrator had a history of violent bank robberies and possible mental illness.

The ex-convict rushed onto the stage with a knife Sunday and stabbed Adamowicz then seized a microphone and said it was revenge against the opposition Civic Platform party, which Adamowicz belonged to for many years.