KRAKOW — Poland began two days of national mourning on Sunday after a gunman fired from a car in Krakow‘s Main Market Square and killed six people. Authorities say he held far-right views, and prosecutors are treating the attack as terrorism.
Police say the attack began at about 3 p.m. local time on Saturday, when the man drove into the square, a major tourist destination, and began shooting at random people from inside the vehicle. The incident was reported near Sławkowska Street, just off the square. Authorities later said he stopped at several spots in the square and fired at each with an automatic weapon.
How the attack unfolded
Police shot and wounded the suspect after an exchange of fire a short distance from the initial violence. Reuters quoted a statement that officers fired at the attacker within three minutes of receiving the report. A police spokesperson said he kept firing even after he was wounded. Police later confirmed he acted alone and that the public was safe.
The suspect is a Polish citizen. Reports put his age at 24 or 25, and police have not released his name. He wore military-style clothing and a bulletproof vest, but officials said he had no links to the Polish armed forces. He remained in critical condition on Sunday after several surgeries.
The victims
Four women and two men died, police said. The police chief said on Saturday that three of the dead were Polish women, one was a British citizen, and two were not yet identified. On Sunday the regional governor said four of the victims were Polish, with the others a British man and a woman from a foreign country not yet named.
Counts of the injured vary. Officials cited 15 or 16 wounded, while Reuters reported 17 including the attacker and two police officers. The wounded included nationals of Austria, Germany, Portugal, Russia and Britain. One officer who confronted the gunman was reported to be in critical condition.
Three more bodies at the suspect’s home
Prime Minister Donald Tusk said police found three more bodies at the suspect’s home in Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski, about 150 kilometres (93 miles) northeast of Krakow. Police identified them as his mother, father and sister. Tusk said investigators had found signs there could be “quite a lot of arms” in the house, and officers also checked whether the suspect’s car posed a threat. Police are still working out how the man obtained his weapons.
Terror investigation
Interior Minister Marcin Kierwiński said everything indicated the man was fascinated by far-right ideologies. He described his views as “very radical” and ultranationalist. Tusk called the attack far-right terrorism, though authorities have not stated a specific motive. Poland’s defence minister described it as an act of terror.
Prosecutors opened an investigation into murder and attempted murder, including attacks on police officers, and they classify it as a terrorist offence. Justice Minister Waldemar Żurek said the suspect acted to seriously intimidate a large number of people. He also faces a separate murder charge over the deaths of his relatives. Authorities have not said whether he belonged to any organised extremist group.
A country in shock
Officials and media called it the country’s deadliest shooting in decades, and such attacks are rare in Poland. President Karol Nawrocki declared national mourning for November 8 and 9, while Krakow’s city mourning runs until November 11. Mourners left candles in the square on Sunday, and parts of it remained sealed off as investigators worked.
Poland’s attention now turns to how a man with extremist views gathered weapons and gear without being stopped. Investigators are also trying to establish exactly what led him to attack his family and then the square. Officials have promised further details as the inquiry continues.
