A gunman opened fire at random from a car on Krakow's crowded Main Market Square on Saturday, killing six people and wounding 15 more before police shot and detained him, in what officials and wire agencies described as Poland's deadliest shooting since the fall of communism in 1989.
Police in the southern Polish city said they began receiving reports at around 3.00 pm local time that a car had driven onto the square and that shots were being fired at passers-by. The square, the centrepiece of Krakow's UNESCO-listed Old Town and one of Europe's largest medieval market squares, was busy with weekend visitors when the attack began.
The death toll, first put at five, was later updated to six by police in the Malopolska region: four women and two men. Fifteen people were wounded, including two police officers who were hurt in a shootout with the attacker. One of the officers was shot three times and was in a very critical condition, with surgery under way in hospital. The injured were taken to hospitals across the city.
The gunman, described by police as a Polish citizen, was wearing military-style clothing and was armed with military-type firearms, according to a Krakow police spokeswoman. Officers found more weapons and a large quantity of ammunition in his car. He was shot by police, detained near the intersection of Dietla and Stradomska streets, and taken to hospital for treatment. Police said he was the only known perpetrator and denied reports that a police officer had been killed or that a second attacker was being sought.
Police have not disclosed a motive, and the identities of the victims have not yet been shared. The man was carrying no identification documents, and officers established his identity through police work, according to local media reports. Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who travelled to Krakow after the attack, called it a tragic shooting and said police were investigating all the circumstances.
Interior Minister Marcin Kierwinski, who was also travelling to the city, praised the officers who intervened, saying they had acted immediately and at risk to their own lives. In a statement on X, he said one officer had sustained a gunshot wound while another was in a very critical condition after being hit three times. Police said the gunman had opened fire at random people from his vehicle before officers stopped him.
The shooting took place about 500 metres from an anti-government demonstration being held in the square, according to the Polish television channel Republika, although police have said nothing so far linking the attack to the protest or to any political motive. Emergency services cordoned off large parts of the Old Town, and witnesses described people lying on the ground, scores of emergency vehicles and armed police, and helicopters circling overhead as the area was sealed off.
The scale of the attack has shocked a country where mass shootings are rare. The Khaleej Times, citing Agence France-Presse, described it as the country's deadliest shooting since the fall of communism in 1989, a measure of how unusual such violence is in Poland. Krakow, Poland's second-largest city, is one of its most visited destinations, and the Main Market Square, dominated by the Cloth Hall and St Mary's Basilica, draws crowds of tourists and residents throughout the year.
Reactions came quickly from abroad as well as at home. The United Arab Emirates strongly condemned the shooting and expressed sympathy with the families of the victims. Within Poland, the attack dominated news coverage through the evening, with the death toll and the condition of the wounded updated through the night as hospitals reported on the injured.
Attention now turns to the investigation and to the days ahead. Police will be working to establish a motive, to examine the weapons and ammunition recovered from the car, and to question the suspect when his medical condition allows. With Poland due to mark Independence Day on 11 November, just four days after the attack, the authorities will also be reviewing security for public gatherings. For now, the city is left counting its dead, waiting on news of the wounded, and asking how a busy Saturday afternoon in one of Europe's most famous squares turned into the country's worst shooting in almost four decades.
