Six people, including a British citizen, were killed and 16 people injured, including two police officers and the suspect, in a shooting in central Kraków, southern Poland, on Saturday afternoon, according to Polish Radio’s report of official information, reported by Polish Radio and reflected in Kraków’s official municipal update. Witnesses described gunfire from a vehicle near the city’s historic Main Market Square.
Emergency services were dispatched to the area on 7 November, with police responding to reports of shots fired in one of Poland’s busiest tourist districts.
A separate investigation has been launched after police discovered the suspected gunman’s parents and sister dead at his family home in Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski. Those three deaths are in addition to the six fatalities in Kraków, while the precise circumstances are still being established.
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Polish authorities have confirmed six deaths in Kraków: four women and two men, including a British citizen. The injured were treated in hospitals around the city. Polish Radio’s Sunday summary listed 16 injured, including the two officers and the suspect; some outlets report 15 injured victims, excluding the suspect. The difference reflects whether the wounded gunman is included in the total. Three additional bodies were found separately at the suspected gunman’s family home.
Witnesses describe gunfire from a vehicle
According to RMF FM’s reporting from Kraków, witnesses described a black car entering the Main Market Square area while shots were fired towards people nearby.
Emergency services treated casualties at the scene, and a medical helicopter attended. The Kraków municipal transport operator confirmed that tram number 1 was struck by gunfire on Plac Wszystkich Świętych, shattering a window in the driver’s cab. No passengers or tram staff were injured. Local media also reported damage to a shop.
Separately, local news outlet LoveKraków reported that witnesses saw people fleeing as gunfire erupted near the square.
One witness described taking cover as shots were fired, before emerging to find people lying on the ground and bystanders attempting to help.
According to RMF FM, citing regional fire service spokesman Hubert Ciepły, the vehicle travelled along Sławkowska Street towards the Main Market Square as shots were fired. The full route and the number of attackers have not been independently established.
Six killed, including British citizen, and dozens affected
The prime minister’s office confirmed that four women and two men were killed, including three Polish women and a British citizen. Polish Radio’s Sunday report on official information counted 16 injured in total, including the suspect and two police officers. Other reports have listed 15 injured victims, excluding the wounded suspect.
Earlier local reports, including LoveKraków, gave lower and differing casualty estimates. Those initial figures have been superseded by the governor’s later confirmation of six dead and 15 injured.
Radio ESKA’s early coverage cited two deaths and ten injuries, before police raised the figure to five fatalities and the provincial governor subsequently confirmed six.
Authorities had not released a complete public account of the victims’ identities or medical conditions.
Two police officers were seriously wounded while confronting the gunman. Prosecutor Tomasz Waszczuk confirmed on Sunday afternoon that both officers had been brought out of medically induced comas. They remain hospitalised; the development does not mean they have recovered or been discharged. A medical helicopter and emergency crews attended the scene on Saturday.
Police and rescue services initially urged people in the affected area to shelter. By Sunday morning, parts of the square and surrounding streets had reopened, although sections remained cordoned off for forensic work, according to the regional police spokesperson.
Suspect remains in hospital; formal charges pending
Police stopped the suspect near the intersection of Dietla and Stradomska streets after an exchange of gunfire. Officers shot and physically apprehended him before he was taken to hospital. Kraków police spokesperson Katarzyna Cisło told the Associated Press that he continued firing even after he had been wounded. Prosecutors have clarified that he has not yet been formally arrested under criminal procedure, questioned or charged because of his medical condition, according to the prosecutor’s briefing reported by Radio Kraków. He remains under constant police guard, and investigators are waiting for doctors to confirm when procedural steps can safely be taken. The police chief said the first alert came shortly after 3pm and the armed confrontation occurred three minutes later.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Saturday that he was receiving updates from the interior minister and that police were investigating the circumstances of the shooting, according to Onet’s report of his public statement. He did not announce a motive or identify a suspect.
The suspect is a 24-year-old Polish citizen from Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski. He underwent several operations and remained in critical condition in the latest reports. Prosecutors said he could not yet be interviewed or formally charged. If his health allows, investigators intend to question him and decide on the appropriate preventive measures. The suspected offences could carry a life sentence. Police said he had a firearms licence and used an AR-15-type rifle; officers also discovered weapons and ammunition in his vehicle. They said there was no evidence of another attacker.
Police said the gunman fired towards people apparently at random, but investigators are still establishing the full sequence of events and whether there was a specific motive.
The prosecution’s terrorist-offence classification is a legal assessment at the investigation stage, not a conviction or a final court ruling. It does not by itself establish the suspect’s precise motive or prove affiliation with an organised extremist group. Officials have not established a foreign connection, and the defence minister has denied rumours that the suspect served in the Polish military.
The Main Market Square, known in Polish as Rynek Główny, is the centre of Kraków’s historic Old Town and attracts large numbers of residents and international visitors.
The reported shooting prompted a substantial emergency response in an area normally used by pedestrians, tourists, restaurants and shops.
Prosecutors formally open terrorism investigation
On Sunday, Poland’s National Prosecutor’s Office formally opened an investigation into the Kraków attack and the three killings in Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski. The office said the available evidence points to the same person being responsible for both sets of killings, and that the cases would be handled together by its Małopolska organised-crime and corruption division. The prosecutor’s announcement was reported by Polish Radio.
The investigation covers the killing of six people in Kraków and the attempted murder of numerous others, including police officers. Prosecutors have classified the Kraków attack as an offence of a terrorist nature under Polish law. The separate killings of three people in Ostrowiec are also included in the case. This is the prosecution’s legal classification at the investigation stage, not a conviction or a final court ruling.
Prosecutors say the legal assessment reflects the suspicion that the attacker acted with the aim of seriously intimidating many people. The precise motive, and whether the suspect had any links to an organised extremist group, remain under investigation.
Three relatives found dead at suspect’s home
In a separate and disturbing development, officers discovered three bodies at the suspected gunman’s family home in Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski, about 150 kilometres north-east of Kraków. On Sunday, police identified the dead as his 53-year-old father, 52-year-old mother and 21-year-old sister.
The Kielce regional prosecutor’s office said all three bodies bore apparent gunshot wounds. Its preliminary assessment was that they had been killed with firearms, and investigators said they may have died on Saturday morning, before the Kraków attack. Their exact causes and times of death remain subject to forensic examination. The National Prosecutor’s Office says evidence points to the same person being responsible for the killings in both cities. They are not included in the six people killed in the Kraków square.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk said officials had concerns about weapons that might be stored in the property. Reuters reported that a drone was used to examine the home and that Polish internal security and military counterintelligence agencies were assisting the wider investigation.
Investigators examine firearms and suspect’s shooting-club links
Investigators are examining how the suspect obtained and used his firearms. The Associated Press reported that four firearms were recovered at the Kraków scene and seven more at the family home in Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski. Police have said the 24-year-old held a firearms licence, and prosecutors are investigating the circumstances in which it was granted.
The Świt Starachowice shooting club, with which the suspect was associated, said he had never received training there in dynamic, tactical or combat shooting. The club said its sporting activities involve static target shooting and that it is cooperating with investigators. RMF FM reported the club’s statement. This does not establish whether he received any other form of training elsewhere.
Police examine possible far-right influence
The suspect is a 24-year-old Polish citizen from Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski who held a firearms licence, according to police. Investigators said he used an AR-15-style rifle and wore military-style clothing and a bulletproof vest, according to the Associated Press. Defence Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz has denied that the man was a member of the Polish armed forces.
Interior Minister Marcin Kierwiński said early findings suggested the suspect had radical, ultranationalist views and may have been influenced by far-right ideology. The Associated Press reported his comments. The minister said the ideological findings remained part of the investigation; prosecutors have since formally classified the attack as a terrorist offence, but a definitive motive or connection to an organised extremist group has not been established.
Police said they had not found evidence of another attacker. The gunman was wounded during a confrontation with officers, detained and taken to hospital; officials said he remained in critical condition after surgery.
British citizen among dead; injured officers remain in hospital
Of the six people killed in Kraków, four were women and two were men. The Polish prime minister’s office confirmed that a British citizen was among those who died. Authorities also reported injured foreign nationals from Britain, Austria, Germany, Portugal and Russia.
The two police officers wounded while confronting the gunman have both now been brought out of medically induced comas. Prosecutor Tomasz Waszczuk confirmed the development on Sunday afternoon, according to Radio ESKA, citing the prosecutor’s statement to Polsat News. Both remain in hospital. Their regaining consciousness is encouraging, but does not mean they have recovered or been discharged.
Police chief Marek Boroń said the first emergency notification was received just after 3pm on Saturday and that officers exchanged gunfire with the attacker at approximately 3.03pm, according to the government’s account of the response.
Poland begins national mourning
President Karol Nawrocki signed a regulation introducing two days of national mourning for Sunday 8 and Monday 9 November. Flags are to be flown at half-mast, with public ceremonies and programming adjusted in remembrance of those killed.
The city of Kraków has separately announced local mourning from 8 to 11 November, with municipal entertainment events cancelled. Parts of the Main Market Square reopened on Sunday, but police continued forensic work in cordoned-off sections.
Kraków also suspended the Hejnał Mariacki, the traditional hourly trumpet call played from St Mary’s Basilica overlooking the square. The melody was not played overnight in tribute to the victims. The Associated Press reported that this was the first time the call had been missed since the Second World War.
Government ministers have praised police officers and emergency responders who confronted the gunman and helped the injured. The authorities have urged the public not to spread rumours about the attack while the investigation continues.
Investigation continues as key questions remain
As police investigate the incident, several important questions remain unanswered.
Investigators are reconstructing the gunman’s movements, identifying all victims and determining his motive. The National Prosecutor’s Office says the available evidence indicates that the same person was responsible for the Kraków attack and the three killings in Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski. Investigators are also examining his personal history, movements before the attack and the circumstances in which he obtained his firearms permit.
Officials have confirmed six deaths at the Kraków shooting scene. The three family members found dead in Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski are separate fatalities whose circumstances remain under investigation. The injury tally has varied between official briefings.
This is a developing story, updated on Sunday, 8 November. Six people were killed at Kraków’s Main Market Square, and three relatives of the suspected gunman were subsequently found dead at his family home. The suspect remains hospitalised under police guard. Authorities are investigating both scenes, the differing reports of injuries and the suspect’s possible motivations.
