Six people were killed and 16 wounded after a gunman opened fire Saturday afternoon in Krakow’s busy Main Square, with Poland’s defense minister describing the shooting as an “act of terror” against the city. In a major new development, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said two women and one man had been found dead in the gunman’s home. Tusk said the three were most likely members of the shooter’s family.
The suspect, a 25-year-old Polish citizen, opened fire with an automatic weapon in the square, one of Poland’s best-known tourist destinations. Interior Minister Marcin Kierwiński said the attacker was fascinated by far-right ideologies and held “very radical views.”
(Photo: REUTERS/Jakub Porzycki)
Purported footage of the Krakow gunman after he was shot and neutralized
Defense Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz called the shooting an “act of terror” against the people of Krakow.
Four women and two men were killed. Two police officers were among the wounded, one of them seriously, Kierwiński said. Police later raised the total number of wounded from 15 to 16. Authorities initially said the gunman was 24 but later corrected his age to 25.
The attacker was shot and wounded during a gunfight with police a short distance from the initial shooting scene and was taken to a hospital for surgery.
Krakow police spokesperson Katarzyna Cisło said the gunman was wearing military-style fatigues and a bulletproof vest and used a military-type long gun. Police also found multiple weapons and ammunition in his car.
Even after being shot, the attacker continued firing at police, Cisło said. She described his movement around the Main Square as a “wild ride,” saying that was why victims were found at several different locations. Police said the gunman acted alone and that there was no continuing threat to the public.
Krakow Mayor Łukasz Gibała announced that the city would observe official mourning through Wednesday but said Krakow would remain open to visitors. “The square will belong to us again,” he said in a video posted to X.
Mass shootings rare in Poland
Videos posted by witnesses on social media showed people fleeing the square and taking cover in nearby streets as first responders treated victims. In one video, a police officer could be seen repeatedly firing at the attacker as he lay in the street before the officer himself slowly collapsed. Photos showed a Polish Medical Air Rescue helicopter that had landed in the square.
It was not immediately clear whether the weapon used in the shooting, or the other guns found in the attacker’s car, were legally owned. About 411,000 people hold firearms permits in Poland, a country of roughly 37 million people, and interest in gun ownership has been rising.
Mass shootings remain rare in Poland. In mid-October, however, three attacks at schools in the central Mazovia province took place within four days, leaving one person dead and several others, including children, wounded.
(Photo: Omar Marques/Getty Images)
Prime Minister Donald Tusk praised the police officers who responded to Saturday’s attack, while President Karol Nawrocki said his thoughts were with the victims, the wounded and their families.
The violence extended beyond the square itself. A tram driver reported around 3 p.m. that his vehicle had been fired on by a man in a moving car near the square, according to Krakow’s municipal transport company. The window of the driver’s cabin was shattered.
Animal rights group OTOZ Animals said the attacker also shot two horses used to pull tourist carriages around the square. Both survived, with one grazed by a bullet and the other wounded in the leg.
Krakow, Poland’s second-largest city, receives about 15 million tourists a year, many of whom pass through the Main Square.
In Warsaw, Mayor Rafał Trzaskowski announced increased security measures after the attack, including road barriers along main streets in the Polish capital’s Old Town.
First published: 22:10, 11.07.26