Poland Mourns Krakow Shooting as Terrorism Probe Widens

Gunfire in Main Market Square

The attack began around 3 p.m., when a masked man in military-style clothing and a bulletproof vest drove into the center of Krakow, one of Poland's busiest tourist destinations. Police say he left his car at an intersection and fired a semi-automatic rifle at officers and at people running for cover. Visitors and residents ducked into shops and locked the doors behind them. One British visitor said they first mistook the gunfire for fireworks.

Four women and two men died. Most of the dead were Polish, but a British man and a woman from another country were among them. The wounded included visitors from the UK, Portugal, Russia, Germany and Austria.

Two officers stopped the attack

Officers Jakub Kulik and Artur Morański traded fire with the gunman and wounded him. Tusk called them heroes, and regional governor Krzysztof Jan Kleczar said the toll could have been far higher without their intervention. Both remained hospitalized on Sunday; one was still in a coma while the other had woken from one.

Investigators weigh motive and weapons

Interior Minister Marcin Kierwiński said the suspect held radical, ultranationalist views and appeared drawn to far-right ideologies. Police say he had no criminal record and held a firearms license, and Polish media reported he belonged to a shooting club with his father. Defense Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz rejected reports that the man had ever served in the military. A shooting club where he is believed to have trained said it taught only static target shooting and never prepared him for tactical or combat use.

Authorities recovered 11 firearms in all: seven at the family home in Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski and four from the gunman or his car. That figure matches the permits issued to the suspect and his father. A prosecutors' spokesman said it is highly likely the same person was responsible for the killings at the home and in Krakow, though the inquiry is continuing. The suspect remains in critical condition after several operations.

A city in mourning

Flags are flying at half-staff across Poland, and entertainment events have been canceled. Mourners placed candles at the edge of the sealed-off square, while police checked the bags of café workers nearby. St. Mary's Church paused its hourly trumpet call for 12 hours, the first such break since 1939, according to the state news agency PAP. A Krakow resident said the city, long regarded as among the safest places she knew, would never feel the same.

The mourning period runs through Monday. Prosecutors are still working to establish the sequence of events at the family home and in the square, and police have stepped up security in the Old Town. Investigators have not said whether anyone else knew of the plan, and the exact order of the killings remains unconfirmed.