Krakow attack: gunman suspected of killing nine people has died
The man behind Saturday's shooting in Krakow's historic centre, which left six dead and fifteen injured, died of his wounds on Monday morning. The 24-year-old Pole is also suspected of killing his parents and his sister.
He will never stand trial. The man who opened fire on crowds in the heart of Krakow on Saturday, killing six people and wounding fifteen, died in hospital on Monday morning, 9 November, police in the Lesser Poland region announced on X. Seriously wounded by officers during his arrest, he had been in a critical condition for two days.
Named by the Polish press as Michal O., the 24-year-old Pole is also suspected of shooting dead his parents and his sister. Their bodies, bearing gunshot wounds, were found in the family home in Ostrowiec Swietokrzyski, about two hours' drive away: a 53-year-old man and two women aged 52 and 21. The total death toll could therefore reach nine.
Shots fired from a car
At around 3pm on Saturday 7 November, the gunman, in military clothing, masked and wearing a helmet, fired a semi-automatic rifle from the window of his vehicle at passers-by near the Main Market Square, the tourist heart of the old town.
The six dead were four women and two men: three Polish women, a British man and an Austrian woman, with the sixth victim still unidentified on Sunday. The fifteen injured include ten Poles, two of them police officers, and five foreigners of British, Portuguese, Russian, German and Austrian nationality.
Chased by local police, the gunman's black Subaru eventually crashed into a stationary vehicle. He then exchanged fire with two officers, who were seriously wounded. A very large number of weapons and ammunition was seized from his car. He had no criminal record and was a member of a shooting club with his father, according to investigators.
A far-right lead
Poland's interior minister described a man drawn to ultranationalist ideas, saying everything pointed to a fascination with far-right ideologies. Prosecutors have opened an investigation into an act of a terrorist nature, but investigators warn that lengthy inquiries will be needed to establish his motives. The country began two days of national mourning on Sunday.
Shock across Europe
Prime Minister Donald Tusk called it an act of terrorism and warned politicians against exploiting it, urging them not to play games with this tragedy. President Karol Nawrocki said he had learned of the events with immense concern.
Emmanuel Macron sent Poland France's full solidarity, sincere condolences and sympathy. Volodymyr Zelensky condemned a shocking crime, and Giorgia Meloni a cowardly and unacceptable act. In Brussels, Ursula von der Leyen had European flags lowered to half-mast.
Justice Minister Waldemar Zurek urged Poles to give blood for one of the wounded officers, Jakub Kulik, who has lost the use of a lung.
What next
The gunman's death ends any prosecution against him, but the terrorism investigation goes on: investigators still have to understand what drove this young man with no criminal record to act. On Sunday, according to police, not all of the injured were yet out of danger.
