Crimeupdated 2h ago3 min read
MapPolish Prosecutors Open Terror Investigation Into Krakow Mass Shooting After Suspect Dies
11 Western MainstreamMap: © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL · Cropped for layout
This article is an automated aggregation of coverage from news outlets. Our editorials offer in-depth analysis curated by the NewsCord team.
Six killed and 16 injured in Kraków Main Market Square attack. 24-year-old Polish man with far-right views; died in hospital after police gunfight.
Save coverage image
Krakow shooting, terror probe
Polish prosecutors opened an investigation on Sunday into an attack in Krakow that killed at least six people, and Prosecutor Tomasz Waszczuk said they intended to treat it as a terrorist act. Regional police said shots were fired in Krakow’s market square on Saturday, and authorities said the suspected shooter was shot and wounded by police. Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Saturday that three other people were found dead inside the home of the suspected shooter in Ostrowiec Swietokrzyski, about 150 kilometers (93 miles) northeast of Krakow.
Police spokesperson Katarzyna Cislo said the attacker had undergone several operations and remained in critical condition, while prosecutors prepared six murder charges that could rise to nine if investigators establish he killed his parents and sister. The Associated Press said Poland began two days of national mourning after the attack, and it described the gunman as a 24-year-old man with far-right views who opened fire in Krakow’s Main Square, leaving six dead and 15 wounded.
Motive dispute and evidence
Prosecutor Przemysław Nowak told reporters that investigators did not yet know what motivated the killer, and he said, "We do not have findings that we could, in a responsible way, categorically state that he was inspired by any particular ideology." Interior Minister Marcin Kierwiński said the gunman was fascinated with far-right ideologies and held "very radical" and "ultra-nationalistic" views, while prosecutors later said they had no evidence linking him to any particular political bent. The 24-year-old attacker died in a hospital Monday morning, and Eryk Stasielak from the Krakow branch of the national prosecutor's office said, "We are first of all investigating if he was inspired by anyone, if someone helped him."
Interior Minister Marcin Kierwiński said the shooter was fascinated by far-right ideologies and held "very radical views," while authorities backtracked Monday and declined to offer any possible motive. Prosecutors opened a terrorism investigation that would continue despite the gunman’s death, aiming to establish if he acted alone or was inspired by any group.
Deaths, injuries, and next steps
Police said the gunman drove into Krakow’s Main Square in the Old Town and opened fire, killing six people and wounding 15 others, and CBS News said the attacker died at 4:30 a.m. in the hospital.
ABC News said the victims killed in the Krakow attack ranged from a 69-year-old Polish woman to a 32-year-old British man, Krzysztof Jan Kleczar said, and it added that a 51-year-old Austrian woman was among those killed.
Mourners left candles and flowers alongside bullet holes and St. Mary’s Trumpet Call, a traditional five-note melody played every hour from the highest tower of St. Mary’s Basilica on the Main Square, was paused overnight, the first time it had been missed since World War II.
Prosecutors confirmed on Sunday that three people found dead at the gunman’s home were his father, 53, mother, 52, and sister, 21, and police said they had probably died of gunshot wounds.
Poland declared it would enter a two-day period of mourning beginning on Sunday, with flags flown at half-mast, while prosecutors prepared murder charges that could rise to nine depending on whether investigators establish responsibility for the deaths of his parents and sister.