A 25-year-old gunman opened fire in Krakow's Main Market Square, killing at least six people including a British national before police shot him within minutes.
By Adam Makins·
A gunman with suspected far-right ties opened fire in central Krakow on Sunday afternoon, killing at least six people and injuring more than a dozen others in what Polish authorities are investigating as a terrorist attack. The violence erupted shortly before 15:00 local time in the city’s iconic Main Market Square, one of Europe’s largest medieval squares and a major tourist destination.
The 25-year-old Polish suspect drove into the bustling square and began firing “at random people from his car” before armed officers engaged him in a gunfight. Police shot him within three minutes of the attack beginning, preventing what could have been a far deadlier incident. The suspect remains hospitalized in critical condition following surgery for gunshot wounds.
Eyewitness accounts paint a terrifying picture of chaos and panic. Jonathan Balshaw, a British tourist visiting with his Polish girlfriend, described hearing “more than 20 shots” with distinctly different firearm sounds. “We ran down the side of the church and through the side door and hid with several other people until the gunfire died down,” he recalled.
Footage authenticated by BBC Verify shows the intense moment when a police officer confronts the suspect on the ground before firing multiple times. The officer himself was shot during the confrontation, with one of the two injured officers described as being in “very critical condition” after sustaining three gunshot wounds to the chest.
The violence extended beyond the square itself. A passing tram was shot at, with windows shattered, though fortunately no passengers were injured. Shop windows throughout the area bore signs of bullet damage, with glass scattered across the pavement. Police checked the suspect’s vehicle for explosive devices but found none.
Six people are confirmed dead: four women and two men. Victims include a British national, three Polish citizens, and two individuals not yet identified. Three additional bodies were discovered at the gunman’s home in Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski, around 200 kilometers from Krakow, when police searched the property on Sunday.
Police later identified those three victims as the attacker’s immediate family: his 53-year-old father, 52-year-old mother, and 21-year-old sister. The discovery raised troubling questions about what may have transpired before the public attack.
Sixteen people were hospitalized, including two police officers and five foreign nationals from Austria, Britain, Germany, Portugal, and Russia. By Sunday, two women had been released, and the remaining patients were in stable condition.
Polish authorities say early investigations indicate the gunman was inspired by “far-right ideologies” and describe him as an “ultra-nationalist,” though further details remain unclear. The suspect wore “military-style attire” and carried military-grade weapons, though authorities confirmed he was not a soldier. Police found extensive ammunition and weaponry in his vehicle, and Polish media reports suggest he held a firearms permit and may have obtained weapons from his family home.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk traveled to Krakow and declared the incident terrorism. “Until now in Poland we haven’t had such drastic cases of terrorism. That’s what we have to call this cruel attack on people’s lives here in Krakow,” he stated.
The city has declared a period of mourning through Wednesday, November 11. International leaders swiftly responded, with UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham, Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband, the EU’s top diplomat, and President Zelensky of Ukraine all offering condolences and expressing solidarity with Poland.
Two surgeons, Dr Mateusz Wierdak and Prof Michał Pędziwiatr, spoke to local media about their impromptu role assisting the wounded immediately after the shooting stopped. “We don’t feel like heroes, but we did everything a paramedic would do at the scene of such an incident,” they said modestly.
As Poland grapples with this unprecedented act of domestic terrorism, questions linger about how someone with apparent far-right radicalization managed to acquire military-grade weapons and what warning signs may have been missed before Sunday’s tragedy unfolded in one of Europe’s most cherished historic squares.
Source: BBC News
