The gunman who killed six people and wounded 15 in Krakow’s Main Market Square died in hospital on Monday morning, police said, as Poland entered a second day of national mourning.
The 24-year-old Polish man had undergone several operations after officers shot him to stop Saturday’s attack in the historic centre of the city, according to CBS News reporting with contributions from The Associated Press.
His death follows prosecutors’ announcement on Sunday that they had opened an investigation into murder and attempted murder, including attacks on police officers, treating the violence as a terrorist offence.
Victims included British and Austrian nationals
Four women and two men were killed in the square. Authorities said four of the dead were Polish citizens. The other victims were a British man and an Austrian woman.
Five foreign nationals were among the wounded, from the United Kingdom, Portugal, Russia, Germany and Austria. Two police officers who intervened to stop the attack remained in hospital. Both had regained consciousness by Sunday afternoon after being in comas, CBS reported.
Regional governor Krzysztof Jan Klęczar credited the officers’ intervention with preventing a potentially higher death toll. Officials also appealed for blood donations to help the more seriously wounded officer.
Investigators examine extremist views and weapons
Interior Minister Marcin Kierwiński said the attacker held radical, ultranationalist views and appeared fascinated by far-right ideologies. Those statements describe authorities’ assessment as the investigation continues; the terrorism inquiry is not a court verdict.
The bodies of the attacker’s mother, father and sister were found at the family home in Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski, northeast of Krakow. Authorities said they appeared to have died from gunshot wounds. These three deaths are separate from the six people killed in Main Market Square.
Local officials said seven weapons were seized from the family home. Together with four recovered from the attacker or his car in Krakow, that brought the total recovered to 11. Kierwiński said the attacker’s father legally owned more than 10 guns and that the attacker also owned firearms.
Candles and flowers fill the square
Residents and visitors placed candles and flowers in the square on Sunday, turning one of Krakow’s busiest tourist destinations into a place of mourning.
The hourly trumpet call from St. Mary’s Basilica was suspended overnight from Saturday into Sunday in tribute to the victims. European flags outside the European Commission’s headquarters in Brussels flew at half-mast on Sunday.
The latest update shifts attention to the continuing criminal investigation and the recovery of those injured. Authorities have not announced a final account of the attacker’s preparations or the full sequence of events at the family home.
