Poland began two days of national mourning on Sunday after a gunman killed six people in the heart of Krakow. Police also found the bodies of the gunman’s parents and sister at their home, and officials now say far-right views drove the attack.
The shooting took place on Saturday afternoon in Main Square, in Krakow’s Old Town. The gunman, a 24-year-old Polish man, drove into the square and opened fire with an automatic weapon. Six people died — four women and two men — and 15 more were wounded before police shot the gunman and took him into custody. He is now in hospital in a critical condition.
Far-Right Motive Confirmed
Interior Minister Marcin Kierwinski said the gunman held “very radical” and “ultranationalistic” views. “Everything indicates that he was fascinated by far-right ideologies,” he told reporters.
Defence Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz called the shooting an “act of terror” against the people of Krakow. It was the first time a minister had used that word for the attack.
Kacper Rekawek, a senior researcher at the International Centre for Counterterrorism in The Hague, said the gunman’s military gear, guns and general look matched other extreme-right lone attackers seen in Europe. “We have had attempts before, but now we can say that these kinds of attacks have become successful in Poland,” he said.
Poland’s defence ministry said the man was not a soldier and had never served in the armed forces, clearing up early rumours about a military link.
Family Found Dead at Home
Hours after the shooting, police searched the gunman’s family home in Ostrowiec Swietokrzyski, a city about 150 kilometres northeast of Krakow. Inside, they found three bodies — the gunman’s mother, father and sister.
Police said the dead were a 53-year-old man and two women, aged 52 and 21. They likely died from gunshot wounds, police said. Officers found the bodies before 10 p.m. on Saturday.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk called the discovery “the next acts of this tragedy”. Police have not said when the three died, and the investigation is still going on.
Two Hero Officers in Hospital
Two police officers stopped the gunman in a close-range shootout in the square. Senior Constable Jakub Kulik and Senior Constable Artur Moranski were both wounded, and one of them is in a critical condition. Officials have appealed for blood donations for him.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk praised the two men on X. “Senior Constable Jakub Kulik and Senior Constable Artur Moranski are true heroes,” he wrote. “They likely saved many human lives, disregarding the risk to their own.”
At least three of the four women killed were Polish, and one of the dead was a citizen of the United Kingdom. Five of the wounded came from other countries — the United Kingdom, Portugal, Russia, Germany and Austria.
Why Attack Shocked Poland
Poland has long seen itself as safer than many of its neighbours in Western Europe, and mass shootings are rare in the country. That is why Saturday’s attack has shaken people so deeply.
On Sunday morning the square stayed partly closed while police kept working at the scene. Mourners left candles in memory of the victims, flags at the city hall flew at half-mast, and many nearby cafes stayed shut. The famous trumpet call from St Mary’s church on the square was stopped for 12 hours to honour the dead — the first time that has happened since 1939.
In Warsaw, police stepped up security in busy areas popular with tourists and put barriers on streets leading to Krakowskie Przedmiescie, in the historic heart of the capital.
The attack came after a worrying run of violence. In mid-October, three attacks at schools in the central Mazovia region took place within four days, leaving one person dead and many wounded, including children. Officials linked those attacks to extremist material seen online.
Around 411,000 people in Poland hold gun permits, in a country of 37 million people, and interest in owning guns has been rising. Leading newspaper Rzeczpospolita said in an editorial that the shooting brought a “brutal end to an era in which Poland was considered an island of safety”.
Key Figures
| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Killed in Main Square | 6 (four women, two men) |
| Wounded | 15 |
| Bodies found at family home | 3 (parents and sister) |
| National mourning | 2 days |
| Gun permits in Poland | Around 411,000 |
| Population of Poland | 37 million |
| Visitors to Krakow each year | Around 15 million |
A 24-year-old gunman drove into Main Square on Saturday afternoon and opened fire, killing six people and wounding 15 before police shot and wounded him.
The interior minister said the gunman held very radical, ultranationalistic views and was fascinated by far-right ideas. The defence minister called the shooting an act of terror.
His parents and sister, found in Ostrowiec Swietokrzyski. Police believe they died from gunshot wounds, and the investigation is still going on.
