KRAKÓW: Six people were killed and at least 15 wounded on Saturday when a gunman opened fire in the landmark historic centre of Poland’s second city of Krakow, in the country’s deadliest shooting in decades.
Three bodies – of two women and a man – were later found at the suspect’s home, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said, adding there was “much to suggest that they are members of the (suspect’s) immediate family.”
Tusk also announced Poland would hold two days of mourning over the shooting that he called an act of “terrorism.”
Polish Interior Minister Marcin Kierwinski said the gunman appeared to be “fascinated by far-right ideologies.”
A British national was among the killed, according to Polish police chief, Marek Boron, and five foreigners were among the wounded in hospital, the authorities said.
“Two people who have not yet been identified,” Boron said referring to the victims killed.
Britain’s Prime Minister Andy Burnham said he was “shocked and saddened by the appalling shooting.”
“My thoughts are with the families of those who have lost their lives, everyone injured and all those affected by this senseless violence,” he wrote on X.
The suspect – a Polish citizen born in 2002 – drove a car onto Krakow’s Main Market Square and began shooting at random people, said police.
Two officers were wounded as they tried to stop the man, the police said, before shooting the suspect who was later detained and taken to a hospital.
An AFP reporter at the scene saw ambulances and multiple police cars as police cordoned off the area – one of Poland’s landmark tourist hotspots popular with locals and foreign visitors.
“Everything suggests that the perpetrator held very, very radical views. A number of weapons were found in the car he was driving,” Kierwinski said.
“Everything suggests that he was fascinated by far-right ideologies” and held “ultra-nationalist views,” he added.
The man was wearing military-style clothing at the time of the attack, said Kierwinski.
- TUSK PRAISES ‘HEROIC’ POLICE –
Andrzej Fijolek, spokesman for the chief of police, said the attacker had used a semi-automatic rifle similar to the American AR-15.
The authorities have not yet disclosed the nationalities of all the victims of the attack, Poland’s deadliest shooting since the fall of communism in 1989.
“Our highest praise goes to the heroic police officers who risked their lives in the line of duty,” Tusk said.
On Saturday evening, AFP reporters saw the usually bustling Main Market Square sealed off, with heavily armed police and forensic investigators inspecting the site of the attack.
Witnesses told AFP they saw people take refuge in shops and restaurants in the surrounding streets.
“I saw a man shooting at people and walking around the square,” Annette, a woman in her sixties, told AFP.
“It’s a tragedy for Krakow, we’ve never seen anything like this before,” she added.
“It’s very frightening to think that there are still risks in Europe – risks of a terrorist nature,” Stella, a 22-year-old tourist from Rennes, northwest France, told AFP.
- ‘DRAMATIC EVENTS’ –
Deadly shootings are extremely rare in Poland, a European Union and Nato member of 38 million people.
But the country has been on high alert following a series of stabbings in October, which Tusk denounced as a “cult of violence.”
Warsaw, a staunch ally of Ukraine since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, has repeatedly warned of Russian sabotage and hybrid warfare on Polish soil, accusations rejected by Moscow.
Poland is also seeing a sharp rise in the number of firearms licences. In 2025, more than 50,000 new licences were issued, bringing the total to 411,000, according to police figures.
The historic city of Krakow in southern Poland was once the country’s capital and attracts millions of tourists every year.
In 2025, it was visited by 16.2 million people.
Poland’s conservative-nationalist president Karol Nawrocki said on X he was awaiting “a full explanation of the circumstances surrounding these dramatic events.”
“The safety of Poles is an absolute priority,” he added.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy offered his condolences, saying that “Ukraine stands in solidarity with Poland and the Polish people. People have the right to safety.”
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on X that “Germany stands shoulder to shoulder with Poland as a friend and partner during these difficult times.”
The EU’s top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, described the shooting as “a tragedy that will be felt far beyond Poland.”–AFP