Krakow: Poland began two days of national mourning on Sunday in memory of the victims of the mass shooting at Krakow that happened on Saturday.
A 24-year-old man with far-right views drove into a busy central square in Krakow and opened fire, killing six people and wounding 15 others before police shot and wounded him.
The attack, which Poland's defence minister described as an “act of terror,” happened in Main Square, which is in the heart of Krakow's Old Town and is a major tourist hub in the country's second-largest city.
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By evening, mourners had left candles in memory of the victims. The square remained partially closed on Sunday morning as authorities continued their investigation.
Remarks of survivors
Marie-Ange Collaer wrote on Facebook that she and her family survived the shooting during a trip to Krakow from Brussels.
“We literally ran for our lives and managed to hide from the bullets flying around,” she wrote. “Lying on the floor in a shop like in a bad police movie whilst you hear bullets everywhere.”
Collaer said her family was shaky and “quite in shock” after returning to their hotel, but everyone was grateful to be alive.
“We saw a few that did not make it, true horror,” she wrote.
UK resident Neil Thaxton and his wife, Nicky, also survived the attack.
“We had just walked through the main square and heard the gunshots,” Thaxton wrote on Facebook. “We thought it was fireworks, then people started running; we went into a gift shop and the staff took us in the back of the shop and locked the doors and turned the lights off.”
Shooter professed far-right ideologies
Polish Interior Minister Marcin Kierwiński told local media that the suspect was fascinated with far-right ideologies and held “very radical" and “ultra-nationalistic" views.
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. The police said the shooter kept firing at the police even after being shot himself.
(With inputs from AP via PTI & ANI)
