Kraków city centre shooting: six dead, 16 injured, two police officers in serious condition
A masked man drove a car into Market Square in Kraków, Poland, on Saturday and opened fire, killing six people and wounding 16. The attacker and two police officers remain in serious condition, and mourning has been declared nationwide.
A shooting took place in the centre of Kraków, a city in Poland's Lesser Poland Voivodeship, at Market Square at about 15:00 on 7 November. According to the Polish Press Agency (PAP), a masked 24-year-old man drove a car onto the square and fired at people. Six people were killed and 16 wounded. Mourning has been declared in Kraków and across Poland.
Victims and injured
The dead are four women and two men, including a British citizen. A spokesperson for the Interior Ministry said five foreign nationals are also among the injured, from Austria, Germany, Portugal, Russia and the United Kingdom. Police officers were hurt in the exchange of fire.
Arrest of the attacker
After a shootout with police, the gunman was wounded and detained. Interior Minister Marcin Kierwiński said officers intervened immediately at risk to their lives, which allowed the attacker to be detained quickly. According to him, one officer has a gunshot wound, while the other is in a very serious condition with three gunshot wounds. Maksymilian Kosowski, spokesman for the Lesser Poland governor, told Reuters that the injured officers' condition after surgery is stable. The shooter is in a stable but very critical condition after several operations.
Investigation details
Police denied rumours of a possible accomplice, and the minister said the man acted alone. Preliminary information indicates he came from the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship and was interested in far-right ideologies. A spokesman for the police chief told TVN24 that the attacker had no criminal record and held a firearms permit, with the shots probably fired from that weapon. National Defence Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz refuted claims that the shooter was a soldier.
Police later said the attacker is a Polish citizen. The bodies of three people, probably close relatives, were found at his home, and many weapons were found in his car.
