A Polish man holding ultranationalistic
views steered his vehicle into Krakow’s Main Square on Saturday and started shooting, leaving six individuals dead and 15 hurt prior to law enforcement officers shooting and injuring him.
The midday attack struck a major tourist hub in Poland’s second-largest city. The 25-year-old assailant navigated multiple locations in the historic square, firing an automatic weapon while wearing military-style fatigues and a bulletproof vest, similar to other extreme right lone actors committing attacks around Europe, according to Kacper Rekawek, a senior researcher at the International Center for Counterterrorism in The Hague.
Witnesses described chaotic scenes as the violence unfolded. Neil Thaxton and his wife, Nicky, who are residents, had just walked through the main square and heard the gunshots, initially thinking it was fireworks before people started running and they took shelter in a gift shop where staff took them into the back and locked the doors with the lights turned off.
We have the next acts of this tragedy,
stated Prime Minister Donald Tusk subsequent to law enforcement discovering the remains of three relatives of the suspect — a man and two women — within his residence situated in Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski, a municipality roughly 150 kilometers (93 miles) northeast of Krakow.
Interior Minister Marcin Kierwiński described the suspect as a Polish national in his mid-20s from Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski. Everything indicates that he was fascinated by far-right ideologies,
Kierwiński said Saturday, describing his views as very radical
and ultranationalistic
and noting he used an automatic weapon. Around 3 p.m. local time, authorities transported the suspect to the hospital following police gunfire at the incident location.
Justice Minister Waldemar Żurek noted the investigation is being led by terror offense specialists within the prosecutor’s office.
The nation’s most fatal shooting in decades claimed the lives of two men and four women, alongside a responding police officer who now faces critical conditions. Authorities stated that at least three of the women were Polish, and one of the dead was a U.K. citizen, while police were still trying to identify the other two people who were killed.
A total of 13 people were hospitalized in serious condition, though that figure may include the gunman, who underwent surgery after the attack. It remains unclear how many of the injured were shot, though two people were treated and released within hours of the mass shooting.
Poland declared two national days of mourning in the aftermath. Krakow mayor Łukasz Gibała posted a video on X stating that the square will belong to us again. In response to the incident, Warsaw mayor Rafał Trzaskowski unveiled enhanced safety protocols encompassing the placement of road barriers across primary thoroughfares within the Polish capital’s old town.
Mass shootings are uncommon in Poland, where around 411,000 people hold gun permits among a population of 37 million, and interest in gun ownership has been rising. The U.S. State Department stated it was not aware of any American citizens harmed in the violence.
Earlier coverage: Polish Gunman Who Killed 6 People in Kraków Has 'Ultranationalistic' Views, Authorities Say