A gunman drove onto Krakow’s Main Market Square on Saturday afternoon and opened fire at apparently random people, killing six and injuring 15, police said. The attacker was shot and wounded by officers during a gunfight a short distance from the square and was taken to hospital in police custody.
Police began receiving reports at around 3 pm local time on Saturday. According to Krakow police, the gunman fired at random people as he drove into the square, stopping at several spots to shoot. The square, known as Rynek Glowny, is the vast medieval square at the heart of Krakow’s old town and one of Europe’s most famous public spaces.
The death toll earlier stood at five, but police updated it to six in a post on social media. Four women and two men were killed. At least three of the women were Polish, and one of the dead was a British citizen, authorities said at a news conference. Five foreign nationals were among the injured, from Britain, Austria, Russia, Germany and Portugal.
Three bodies found in the suspect's home
Later on Saturday night, Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk said at a news conference that three dead bodies, two female and one male, had been found inside the home of the suspect. The victims appear to be close members of the gunman’s family, he said.
The home is in Ostrowiec Swietokrzyski, about a two-hour drive from Krakow. Police broke into the apartment with the help of a drone and found the three bodies inside, according to local reports. The suspect has not been named by police, and no motive has been officially announced.
Krakow police spokesperson Katarzyna Cislo told broadcaster TVN24 that the perpetrator wore military-style fatigues and a bulletproof vest and used a military-type long gun in the attack. The 25-year-old attacker drove to multiple spots in the square and opened fire at each stop with an automatic weapon, authorities said.
Police officers among the injured
Two police officers were among those injured, one of them seriously. The officers were named by the Prime Minister as Senior Constable Jakub Kulik and Senior Constable Artur Moranski, who he described as true heroes. A total of 13 people were hospitalised in serious condition, though that figure may include the gunman, who underwent surgery after the attack.
Poland’s Defence Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz described the attack as an act of terror directed against residents and tourists staying in Krakow. The Interior Minister, Marcin Kierwinski, said the suspect was fascinated by far-right ideologies and held very radical views.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk said he was being kept informed by the Interior Ministry about the shooting, and that police were investigating the background and all the circumstances of the attack. Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy offered condolences to the relatives of those affected.
A rare attack in Poland
Mass shootings are rare in Poland, and the attack has shocked the country. A period of mourning has been declared in Krakow until November 11, and Poland will hold two days of mourning following the attack.
Police said the gunman acted alone and that they were not looking for anyone else. The victims had not been identified publicly as of Saturday evening, and police had released no names. The absence of names is deliberate at this stage of an investigation, as families are informed before victims are identified in public.
The investigation will now focus on the suspect’s background, his movements before the attack, and the three deaths in his home. The questions that remain are why he chose the square, what his motive was, and whether the killings at his home happened before he drove to Krakow.
