Six Killed in Kraków Main Square Shooting as Poland Declares National Mourning

Kraków's Main Market Square — Image via Wikimedia Commons

Six people were killed and at least 15 others were injured when a gunman opened fire in Kraków's Main Market Square on Saturday afternoon, in one of the worst mass shootings in Poland's recent history, according to Polish police and officials. Poland has declared two days of national mourning.

What happened

• Gunfire began at about 3pm local time on Saturday, 7 November, in the Rynek Główny, the historic main square of Poland's second-largest city.
• The gunman, firing a long-barrelled rifle from his vehicle, shot at pedestrians in the crowded square before police shot and arrested him at the scene.
• Six people were killed in the square — four women and two men. At least 15 others were injured, including five foreign nationals and two police officers. A British citizen was among those killed, according to The Times.
• Police said the gunman continued firing even after being shot.

The suspect and the investigation

• The suspect is a 24-year-old Polish citizen who held a firearms licence and was wearing military-style clothing, according to police. He used an AR-15 rifle and had no previous criminal record.
• He is now in hospital in a stable but very critical condition after being shot by officers.
• Hours later, police found three more bodies — two women and a man, believed to be close family members of the gunman — at his home in Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski, about 200 kilometres north of Kraków, according to Prime Minister Donald Tusk.
• Interior Minister Marcin Kierwiński said everything pointed to the shooter having been influenced by far-right ideology, though the motive is still under investigation. Poland's defence minister described the attack as "an act of terror", and the Internal Security Agency and Military Counterintelligence Service are assisting the investigation.

Reaction

• Prime Minister Donald Tusk travelled to Kraków after the attack, praised the police officers who risked their lives, and appealed to politicians "not to exploit this tragedy".
• President Karol Nawrocki declared national mourning for 8–9 November, while Kraków's mayor set a local period of mourning until 11 November.

Background

• The attack follows three knife attacks at Polish schools in October, in which one woman was killed and other adults and children were injured. Mr Tusk blamed the glorification of violence online for those attacks.
• It comes at the end of a tense week for public safety in Europe.
• Police say the gunman acted alone, and the investigation into his motive continues.