Poland mourns in Kraków following terrorist attack: six dead, 15 wounded
A 24-year-old man opened fire in Kraków's Main Market Square on Saturday, killing six people and wounding 15. Two days of mourning began in Poland on Sunday.
Mourning in Kraków following shooting attack in central city square
Kraków's Main Market Square became a place of mourning on Sunday: residents and tourists laid candles and flowers at the walls of buildings riddled with bullets, LRT reports based on data from international agencies.
On Saturday at approximately 15:00 local time, a 24-year-old man holding far-right and ultranationalist views drove a car into Kraków's Old Town, after which he opened fire in the Main Market Square — one of the most visited tourist centres in the country. He killed six people and wounded another 15 before two police officers stopped him by shooting.
Poland's Defence Minister called the incident a terrorist act. On Sunday, prosecutors began an investigation into the killings of multiple people, including police officers, and attempted murder, describing the action as a "terrorist crime".
Victims and their identity
Four women and two men were killed in the shooting. Krzysztof Jan Kleczak, voivode of Lesser Poland Voivodeship, confirmed on Sunday that three of the dead women and one man were Polish citizens. Among the dead are also a man from the United Kingdom and a woman from Austria. Among the 15 wounded are five foreigners from the UK, Portugal, Russia, Germany and Austria.
The suspect's sister, 21-year-old Magdalena Oksinskaja, died in the attack. She was a third-year student at the Kraków Academy of Fine Arts. "21-year-old Magdalena Oksinskaja, a member of the queer community, was an incredibly talented painter, photographer, poet and writer," architect Pavko Krajka wrote on social media. "Her death is a huge loss to Kraków, Poland, Europe and queer culture."
The Academy confirmed that a staff member's sister sustained two gunshot wounds. "Nothing will ever be the same again. The fabric of our academic community has been painfully damaged," the Academy stated.
Authorities also found the bodies of the suspect's sister, mother and father at his family home in Święty Krzyż Ostrowiec, a city approximately 150 kilometres north-east of Kraków. It is believed they died from gunshot wounds.
Police officers called heroes
Two police officers who stopped the shooter were still in hospital on Sunday afternoon, but both were conscious. In a video posted on social media, an officer can be seen shooting at the attacker lying in the street several times, before slowly collapsing to the ground himself.
"If not for the swift and selfless intervention of these two young men, the number of victims could have been significantly higher," said K. J. Kleczak.
Two local surgeons, Michał Pędziwiatr and Mateusz Wierdak, who were eating nearby the square, also rushed to help. Wierdak "looked after the officer who had subdued the attacker, as he really needed emergency assistance," Pędziwiatr told Polish news website "Onet". "Without protective equipment, without gloves, he simply focused on the officer, stopping the bleeding in his chest. This probably saved his life."
The suspect's condition after several operations is also critical. The suspect was initially reported to be 25 years old on Saturday, but on Sunday authorities confirmed he is 24 years old. Interior Minister Marcin Kierwiński indicated that the suspect held "very radical" and ultranationalist views.
Witnesses: "It all seems unreal"
British tourist Andy Hillas told the BBC he felt as though he were in a film scene. "It all seems unreal," he said. "And the problem is that you have only a moment to make a decision: to run, to stand still. You are overcome with shock. But I simply thought that the easiest thing would be to dive through a door and hide behind windows."
Magdalena Fraczak, from Warsaw, was visiting Kraków with a friend when she heard the shots. "I pushed an elderly woman behind a flower vase because she was tangled up in a blanket she was holding on her knees. I covered her with my body," M. Fraczak told AP. "From the corner of my eye I saw him — he was just over a metre behind my back. That's why I have six shrapnel wounds on my back. Only once he had left did I lift the woman and run to a café."
On Sunday she returned to the Main Market Square to mourn with others. "I cannot put it into words. Because I knew that I would never return to Kraków if I didn't stop here," she said.
American tourist Marylin Green mourned the victims on her first trip to Poland. "I am Polish, my parents were from here. I really liked Warsaw. That's why I was very looking forward to coming here," she said.
Symbols of mourning and a broken tradition
St. Anne's Church in Kraków filled with mourners on Sunday afternoon who gathered for a memorial service. The traditional five-note St. Mary's trumpet call, which sounds every hour from the highest tower of St. Mary's Basilica, was interrupted at night — this was the first time since the Second World War.
Krakovian Maciej Sikorski told AP in the square: "I come here so that I don't get drawn into a spiral of fear and anxiety. In such a situation it is too easy to stop living — instead start being afraid and just vegetate. That is exactly what I want to avoid."
Shortly after the memorial service, the square was reopened to the public.
Source: LRT