At least six people were killed and more than 15 injured in a shooting that occurred on Saturday, November 7, in the main market square of the southern city of Krakow, police reported. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said the bodies of two women and a man, most likely members of his family, were found in the home of the suspect in the attack.

First modification: 07/11/2026 - 23:43

A gunman shooting indiscriminately from a car killed four women and two men in the main square of the city of Krakow, southern Poland, on Saturday, November 7, before police killed the suspect.

Krakow Police reported that the alleged perpetrator of the shooting is a 24-year-old Polish citizen and added: "The only known person responsible for the incident is in police custody."

What happened and how many victims did the attack leave?

Scenes of blood and bodies strewn across the historic center of one of Poland's top tourist attractions shocked a nation that has long considered itself safer than its Western European neighbors, which have seen similar attacks in the past.

So far there are six dead, four women and two men, said the Police, who deployed an extensive emergency operation at the site.

According to the authorities, among the injured taken to the hospital there are five foreigners and one of the fatalities identified so far was a British national.

Police reported that they began receiving reports around 3 p.m. (2:00 p.m. GMT) that an attacker had opened fire from a car and shot indiscriminately at people in the square of Poland's second-largest city, a popular tourist destination.

An unverified video shared on social media showed people fleeing the scene while gunshots were heard and police sirens sounded. Another video showed two people lying on bloody cobblestones and passersby trying to revive them. A third person was lying motionless on the ground near the scene.

According to the Government of the Lesser Poland region, of which Krakow is the capital, there are also at least 15 injured.

The Police later indicated that the detainee is Polish and denied that a second suspect was being sought.

In images broadcast by the PolSat network, a dark-colored Subaru vehicle can be seen traveling at full speed along Szewska Street, one of the pedestrian routes leading out of Krakow's main square, which the perpetrator of the attack was supposedly driving.

After carrying out his attack near the emblematic church of Santa María, the man fled the scene in the car and, according to the PAP agency, apparently crashed into a white car. He then exited the vehicle and opened fire on the officers.

According to eyewitnesses, the attack was indiscriminate and was directed against groups of tourists and walkers who filled the terraces of the city square, a very busy place especially on weekends.

24-year-old ultranationalist: what is known about the alleged perpetrator?

Right now, the Police stated, "the only known perpetrator of the incident is in police custody."

The Minister of the Interior, Marcin Kierwiński, who traveled to Krakow, indicated that among the injured there are at least two police officers, one with a gunshot wound and the second with three gunshot wounds who is "very serious" and is undergoing surgery in a hospital.

The officers shot at the man and he responded by opening fire at the police officers, according to the spokesperson for the Krakow Provincial Police Headquarters, Katarzyna Cisło, to the PAP news agency.

The detainee, who is 24 years old, according to Cisło, was wearing military-style clothing and was using a military rifle with "a lot" of ammunition. In addition, he carried a camera to record his actions and a bulletproof vest.

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According to the same source, a large amount of other weapons and ammunition were found in his vehicle.

According to the authorities, who have not provided the identification of the alleged perpetrator, he is a young man probably influenced by extreme right-wing ideology.

"Everything indicates that the shooter was influenced by far-right ideology, a matter that will also be the subject of investigation," Kierwinski declared at a press conference.

Katarzyna Cislo stated: "The attacker was wearing military-style clothing and used military weapons. Numerous weapons and ammunition were also found in his vehicle."

Police spokesman Andrzej Fijolek told the private channel 'TVN 24' that the attacker used an AR-15 rifle and had a firearms license.

Three more bodies found in the suspect's house

Prime Minister Donald Tusk declared that the bodies of two women and a man had been found in the attacker's home in Ostrowiec Swietokrzyski, just under 200 kilometers north of Krakow.

"There are strong indications that they are members of his immediate family," Tusk said at a crisis meeting.

According to him, a drone had been used to inspect the interior of the attacker's home due to possible security threats.

"We know that there may be a significant amount of weapons inside the house," he added.

Polish President Karol Nawrocki expressed his "enormous concern" about "the tragic events that occurred in the center of Krakow" and said he was thinking about the victims, the injured and their families.

The head of state said that the head of the National Security Office is also on his way to Krakow and that he hopes that "the circumstances of these dramatic events will be completely clarified."

With EFE and Reuters

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