Krakow Shooting Leaves 6 Dead and 15 Wounded in Poland’s Main Square

The Krakow shooting on Saturday left six people dead and 15 wounded in one of the busiest tourist spots in Poland, and the country spent Sunday in shock. Authorities say a gunman drove into Main Square in the city’s Old Town and opened fire before police shot and wounded him. Prosecutors are treating the case as a terrorist offence.

What happened in Main Square

According to police, the attacker wore military-style clothing and a bulletproof vest. Krakow police spokesperson Katarzyna Cisło said he drove to several points around the square and fired at each stop, which is why people were wounded in multiple locations. She described a “wild ride” around the square and said he appears to have acted alone.

Cisło said he kept firing at officers even after he was hit. Video posted by witnesses shows people running into side streets and first responders trying to resuscitate victims. In one clip, a police officer is seen firing at the man on the ground before slowly collapsing himself.

Visitors described taking shelter wherever they could. British tourist Neil Thaxton said shop staff hurried him and his wife into the back of a gift shop, locked the doors and turned off the lights. Both were unharmed.

Victims and the wounded

Four women and two men were killed. Regional Governor Krzysztof Klęczar said four of the dead were Polish, one was a British man, and one was a woman from another country whom officials had not yet named. The wounded included people from Britain, Portugal, Russia, Germany and Austria.

Two police officers who confronted the gunman were seriously hurt. On Sunday Klęczar said one remained in a coma and the other had regained consciousness. Officials appealed for blood donations.

What authorities say about the suspect

The suspect is a Polish national. The sources differ on his age: the Associated Press initially reported 25, while a later update put it at 24. Police have not released his name. Reports say he remained in critical condition after several operations, and none of them mention any charge against him.

Interior Minister Marcin Kierwiński said the man held “very radical” and “ultranationalistic” views and that “everything indicates that he was fascinated by far-right ideologies.” Authorities have not said whether he belonged to any organised extremist group. Prosecutors have opened an investigation into murder and attempted murder, including attacks on police officers, which they say constitutes a terrorist offence.

Police also found three bodies at the family home in Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski, about 150 kilometres (93 miles) northeast of Krakow. They identified them as the suspect’s mother, father and sister and said they likely died of gunshot wounds. Prime Minister Donald Tusk called it “the next acts of this tragedy.” The sources do not say who was responsible for those deaths, and the investigation continues.

The weapons and the wider context

Police recovered four firearms at the scene, from the attacker or his car. Seven more were seized from the family home, bringing the total to 11. Klęczar said the suspect’s father legally owned more than 10 guns and that the suspect also owned firearms. A shooting club where he is believed to have trained said it offered only “static shooting” at stationary targets and that he was never trained in dynamic, tactical or combat shooting.

Mass shootings are uncommon in Poland, which has about 37 million people and roughly 411,000 gun permit holders, though interest in gun ownership has been growing. In mid-October, three school attacks in the central province of Mazovia within four days left one person dead and several wounded, including children.

Kacper Rekawek of the International Center for Counterterrorism in The Hague said the attacker’s gear and appearance resembled those of far-right “lone actors” elsewhere in Europe. “We have had attempts before,” he said, “but now we can say that these kinds of attacks have become successful in Poland.”

Mourning and security response

Krakow will be in official mourning until Wednesday. Mayor Łukasz Gibała said the city will stay open to visitors, adding: “The square will belong to us again.” The St. Mary’s Trumpet Call, played hourly from the tower of St. Mary’s Basilica, was paused overnight in tribute. It was the first time it had been missed since World War II. In Warsaw, Mayor Rafał Trzaskowski announced extra security measures, including road barriers on main Old Town streets.

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