Kraków reopened its historic Main Market Square to the public on Sunday, just over 24 hours after a gunman killed six people and injured more than a dozen in the Old Town of Poland's second-largest city, as the country began two days of national mourning. Bullet marks were still visible on café windows and mourners lit candles at a makeshift memorial as residents and visitors gradually returned to the square, Euronews reported.
What happened
The attack began shortly before 15:00 local time (14:00 GMT) on Saturday 7 November, when, according to police, a man drove into the square and opened fire "at random people from his car." Police said the attacker moved to several points around the square and fired at each, and that a passing tram was also struck, shattering the driver's cabin window without injuring passengers, the BBC reported. Armed officers reached the scene within minutes, engaged the suspect and detained him after shooting him, Kraków's city authorities said in a statement.
The victims and the injured
Polish police said six people were killed — four women and two men. Four of the dead were Polish nationals, one was a British citizen and one an Austrian woman, according to police and Poland's PAP news agency. A further 16 people were injured, including two police officers, five foreign nationals from Austria, Britain, Germany, Portugal and Russia, and the suspect himself, the interior ministry told Reuters.
The two officers, named by Prime Minister Donald Tusk as Senior Constables Jakub Kulik and Artur Morański, were shot while subduing the attacker. Officials said one was in a very critical condition and appealed for blood donations. Police later said the other injured people were in stable condition. Two surgeons who were dining nearby rushed to the scene and treated the wounded before emergency services arrived, one of them told the BBC.
The suspect and the investigation
Police identified the suspect as a 24-year-old Polish man who held a firearms permit and had no previous criminal record. He was shot during his arrest near the junction of Dietla and Stradomska streets and remains in critical condition in hospital. Named in local media only as Michał O., he has not been charged, and under Polish law he is presumed innocent.
Poland's national prosecutor's office opened an investigation into what it described as a terrorist offence — "the killing of six people … using a firearm, and the attempted murder of many others, including police officers," the Guardian reported. Interior Minister Marcin Kierwiński said "everything indicates" the suspect was fascinated by far-right ideologies, though Deutsche Welle noted that authorities have not stated a formal motive. Three further bodies were found at the suspect's home in Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski, about 150km (93 miles) northeast of Kraków; police confirmed on Sunday they were his father, 53, his mother, 52, and his 21-year-old sister.
Mourning and a city reopening
Mayor Łukasz Gibała declared city mourning until Wednesday 11 November, while the national mourning period covers Sunday and Monday, with flags flown with black ribbons. The square reopened but remained partly cordoned off while forensic work continued, and trams ran on diverted routes. Officials said the site reopens as an investigation continues.
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