Six killed and more than a dozen injured in shooting in Kraków

The suspect, a 25-year-old Polish citizen, was fascinated with far-right ideologies and held “very radical” and “ultra-nationalistic” views, Polish Interior Minister Marcin Kierwiński said.

At least six people were killed and 16 injured, among them two police officers, after a gunman opened fire on the main square of the Polish city of Kraków.

Katarzyna Cisło, a police spokesperson, said the perpetrator was wearing military-style fatigues and a bulletproof vest and used a military-type long gun in the attack.

Police found many other weapons, as well as ammunition, in his car. He kept firing at the police even after being shot himself, she said.

The attacker engaged in a “wild ride” around the Main Square, Cisło said, which is why people were wounded at several locations.

The suspect, a 25-year-old Polish citizen, was fascinated with far-right ideologies and held “very radical” and “ultra-nationalistic” views, Polish Interior Minister Marcin Kierwiński said at a news conference.

Polish Defence Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz called Saturday’s fatal shooting an “act of terror” on the people of Krakow, Poland’s second-largest city, which receives 15 million visitors a year, most of them passing through the Main Square.

Thirteen of the 16 people injured were brought to the hospital with serious injuries, and five of them were foreign citizens.

Videos posted on social media by witnesses show people running away from the square to take cover on small streets nearby, as well as first responders trying to resuscitate victims.

In one of the videos, a policeman is seen repeatedly shooting the attacker, who is lying on the street, only to later slowly collapse himself to the ground.

Poland’s Interior Minister Marcin Kierwiński tweeted: “Police officers risked their lives while intervening in Kraków. They acted immediately. Thanks to their heroic actions, the attacker was quickly apprehended.

One police officer has a gunshot wound; the condition of the second is very serious — he suffered three gunshot wounds. He is currently undergoing surgery.”

Malopolska police confirmed that the gunman is a Polish citizen and denied reports about a possible second perpetrator being sought.

A spokesperson of the Malopolska Chief Police Commander, Andrzej Fijołek, stated that the perpetrator comes from Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski.

He added that he had not been on police records before. The car he was driving was registered under his 52-year-old father’s name, who, local media reported, holds several gun licences.

Defence Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz denied reports that the perpetrator was a soldier of the Polish Army. “The man was not and is not a soldier of the Polish Army and has never had anything to do with the army”, he said.

President Karol Nawrocki said his he was “deeply concerned by reports of the tragic events in central Kraków” and that his “thoughts are with the victims, those injured and their families.”

The president announced two days of national mourning, on 8 and 9 November.

Both Nawrocki and Prime Minister Donald Tusk are reported to be on their way to Kraków.

EU Foreign Chief Kaja Kallas said “the tragic loss of life in the shooting in Krakow is a tragedy that will be felt far beyond Poland,” in a post on X. “My thoughts are with the victims and their families and the first responders.”