Kraków, Poland: Two women and a man were found dead inside the home of the suspect in Saturday's mass shooting in Kraków. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said the deceased were likely close members of his family.
Tusk described the discovery of the bodies late Saturday as ‘the next acts of this tragedy’.
A Polish man with far-right views drove into a busy central square in Kraków on Saturday and opened fire, killing six people and injuring 15 others before police shot and wounded him, authorities said.
The attack, which Poland’s defence minister described as an ‘act of terror’, happened in Main Square, in the heart of Kraków’s Old Town and a major tourist hub in the country’s second-largest city.
The 25-year-old attacker drove to several spots in the square and opened fire at each stop with an automatic weapon, authorities said.
Although they did not release his name, Interior Minister Marcin Kierwiński said the man held ‘very radical’ and ‘ultranationalistic’ views.
“Everything indicates that he was fascinated by far-right ideologies,” Kierwiński said at a news conference.
Four women and two men were killed. At least three of the women were Polish, and one of the dead was a UK citizen, authorities said. Police were still trying to identify the other two victims hours after the attack.
Two police officers were among the injured, including one whose injuries were serious, Kierwiński said. Five non-Poles were also injured, police commander Marek Boroń said.
Authorities said 13 people were hospitalised in serious condition, though that figure may include the gunman, who underwent surgery after the attack. It was unclear how many of the injured had been shot. Two people were treated and released within hours of the shooting.
The attacker wore military-style fatigues and a bulletproof vest, and used a military-type long gun, Kraków police spokesperson Katarzyna Cisło said. Police found several other weapons and ammunition in his car. He continued firing at police even after being shot himself, she said.
The attacker went on a ‘wild ride’ around Main Square, leaving people wounded at several locations, Cisło said. She added that he acted alone and that the public was safe.
Kraków Mayor Łukasz Gibała said the city would remain in official mourning until Wednesday. He vowed that Kraków would remain open to visitors despite the tragedy.
“The square will belong to us again,” Gibała said in a video posted to X.
Videos posted on social media by witnesses showed people running away from the square to take cover in nearby narrow streets, while first responders tried to resuscitate victims. In one video, a police officer was seen repeatedly shooting the attacker, who was lying on the street, before the officer slowly collapsed to the ground.
Photos showed a Polish Medical Air Rescue helicopter after it landed in the square.
It was not immediately clear whether the firearm used in Saturday's attack, or the guns found in the suspect's car, were legally owned. Around 411,000 people hold gun permits in Poland, which has a population of 37 million, and interest in gun ownership has been rising.
Mass shootings are uncommon in Poland. However, three attacks at schools in the central province of Mazovia took place within four days in mid-October, leaving one person dead and many wounded, including children.
Tusk praised the police officers who responded to Saturday's attack in a post on X. President Karol Nawrocki said his thoughts were with the victims, the wounded and their families.
A tram driver reported at around 3 pm that his vehicle had been shot at by a man in a moving car while passing near the main square, the Kraków municipal transport company said. The tram driver's cabin window was shattered.
Animal rights group OTOZ Animals said the attacker had also shot two horses. Both animals were alive, but one had been grazed by a bullet, and the other had been hit in the leg. White carriages drawn by horses are a major tourist attraction in the square.
Warsaw Mayor Rafał Trzaskowski announced increased security measures, including road barriers along the Old Town's main streets, after the Kraków attack.