Mass shooting in Krakow, Poland market leaves at least 6 dead, 15 injured; 3 more found dead in suspect’s home

A man drove into an open market in the Polish city of Krakow and opened fire from his car, killing at least six people and injuring at least 15 others, authorities said. Another three people were later found dead in the suspect’s home. The suspected gunman was shot by police and taken into custody. 

The shooting happened in the Main Market Square in Krakow around 3 p.m. local time on Saturday. Krakow police said the alleged shooter began firing at random people from his car. Police said the victims were four women and two men.

Two women and one man believed to be relatives of the suspect were later found dead in suspect’s home, said Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, according to The Associated Press. 

Marcin Kierwiński, Poland’s interior minister, said there were indications the suspect was fascinated by far-right ideology, according to Reuters. The suspect, a 25-year-old Polish citizen, is fascinated with far-right ideologies and held “very radical” and “ultra-nationalistic” views, The AP reported Kierwiński said at a news conference.

Five foreigners were among the wounded victims, Kierwiński said. He said a foreign national was among those killed.
A spokesperson from the U.S. State Department told CBS News they are not aware of any U.S. citizens being harmed at this time. 

Police officers are also among the wounded. The perpetrator was shot and wounded during a confrontation with police a short distance away from the initial violence, and was taken to a hospital for treatment.

The death toll earlier stood at five, but the Malopolski regional government updated it to six in a post on X.

Kierwiński wrote on X that two police officers were wounded by gunfire and one is in serious condition.

“Police officers in Kraków risked their lives to intervene. Immediately. Thanks to their heroic actions, the attacker was quickly apprehended,” he wrote.

In a social media post, Krakow police said the gunman acted alone.

Katarzyna Cisło, a spokesperson for the Krakow police, told TVN24 that the suspected gunman was wearing military-style fatigues and used a military-type long gun in the attack. Police found many pieces of other weapons, as well as ammunition, in his car.

“I am being kept informed by the Minister of the Interior about the situation in Krakow following the tragic shooting,” Tusk wrote on social media, adding that “the police are investigating the background and all the circumstances of the attack.”

He later headed to Krakow from the capital, Warsaw, a government spokesperson said.

Other details were not immediately available.

Krakow mayor Łukasz Gibała said the city will be in official mourning until Wednesday. He vowed that Krakow will remain open to visitors despite the tragedy.

“The square will belong to us again,” Gibała said in a video posted to X.

“We are just learning details of the horrific mass shooting in Krakow, a savage and murderous attack that’s shattered the peace of Poland,” Tom Rose, the U.S. ambassador to Poland, wrote on X. “America stands with Poland at this dark hour as Poland stands with her beloved citizens of Krakow.”

 
Mass shootings are uncommon in Poland, a European Union and NATO member of 38 million people.

“I saw a man shooting at people and walking around the square,” Annette, a woman in her sixties, told news wire Agence France-Presse. “It’s a tragedy for Krakow; we’ve never seen anything like this before.”

Kaja Kallas, the European Union’s top diplomat, said in a statement that the EU stands with Poland and offered her condolences.

“The tragic loss of life in the shooting in Kraków is a tragedy that will be felt far beyond Poland,” she wrote on X. “Poland’s strength lies in the resilience of its people. In this moment of grief, Poland does not stand alone.”

Krakow is the second-largest city in Poland and roughly 155 miles from the capital, Warsaw.