Krakow massacre: nine dead, suspect linked to far right
A young man fascinated by ultranationalist ideas shot six people in Krakow's Market Square, bringing the total death toll to nine. Poland observed two days of national mourning.
Poland in shock after Krakow massacre
Poland woke on Sunday in mourning, flags at half-mast and candles lit on Krakow's Market Square, the day after a shooting that killed six people and wounded fifteen in the heart of the historic city. According to the Daily, the total death toll could reach nine following the discovery, in Ostrowiec Swietokrzyski — two hours' drive from Krakow — of the bodies of three members of the gunman's family.
Police confirmed on Sunday in a statement that they had found in an apartment in central Ostrowiec Swietokrzyski the bodies of a man aged 53 and two women aged 52 and 21. "These are the parents and sister" of the perpetrator, police clarified, adding that the three victims bore "gunshot wounds".
Investigation opened for terrorist act
The prosecution announced on Sunday the opening of an investigation for an act of a "terrorist character". The Market Square, at the heart of the old town popular with tourists, remained closed to visitors; cafés, restaurants and souvenir shops were mostly closed, according to AFP journalists. Investigators were retracing the gunman's path, searching for evidence and witness statements.
Residents were asking police to allow them to cross the security cordon to place a candle. "I am devastated. Our city will never be the same after what happened yesterday," said Weronika Filar, a 27-year-old employee. "It is one of the safest places in the world."
Poland's leading national newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza summed up the significance of the event on Sunday: "For a good decade, we have been talking about the external terrorist threat. Yet terrorism has struck Poland from within." A symbol of the gravity of the tragedy, the bugle sounded every hour by firefighters from the bell tower of St Mary's Church has not been heard since Saturday evening — a first since 1939. Two days of national mourning were declared.
Poland, a country of 38 million inhabitants, is renowned as safe and acts of violence are relatively rare there. Poles had not experienced such a massacre of civilians since the end of communist rule (1944–1989), even if war has resurfaced at its borders since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
The gunman's profile: Michal O., born in 2002
The gunman, identified in the Polish press as Michal O., born in 2002, lived with his parents and sister in Ostrowiec Swietokrzyski. On Sunday morning, he remained in critical condition following surgery, according to a police spokesperson. Investigators, convinced that he acted alone, are working to establish his motivations and psychological profile.
Michal O. had no criminal record, according to investigators cited by the Polish press. He was a member, with his father, of a shooting club. Interior Minister Marcin Kierwinski put forward on Saturday evening the hypothesis of a man receptive to "ultranationalist" ideas: "Everything indicates that he was fascinated by far-right ideologies," he said.
Dressed in military attire, masked, helmeted and wearing a tactical vest, the gunman exited his vehicle armed with a semi-automatic rifle of AR-15 type. He exchanged gunfire with two police officers, wounding both agents. One of them, despite his wounds, succeeded in neutralising him.
Condition of the wounded
The health condition of the fifteen people hospitalised for gunshot wounds improved slightly during the night from Saturday to Sunday, but all are not yet out of danger, according to a police spokesperson cited by Polish media. Among the wounded are five foreigners: a British national, a Portuguese citizen, a Russian, a German and an Austrian, police indicated to the PAP agency.
Source: Le Quotidien