A man opened fire on pedestrians in the Rynek Główny, Kraków's main square, at around 3pm on Saturday, killing six people and wounding 15 before police shot and arrested him. Gun crime is rare in Poland, and the country had been on heightened alert since a series of knife attacks in October.
What police described
According to police in Lesser Poland (Małopolska), the gunman drove into the square and began firing "at random people from his car". The six dead are four women and two men. Among the 15 wounded are two police officers, one of them in critical condition, Interior Minister Marcin Kierwiński said.
Police spokeswoman Katarzyna Cisło said the man wore military-style clothing and a ballistic vest and carried a military-type long gun. Several other weapons and a large quantity of ammunition were found in the vehicle. He was detained near the junction of Dietla and Stradomska streets after exchanging fire with officers, and has undergone surgery. Police say he acted alone and that no other suspect is being sought.
A tram on Line 1 was also fired on, at Plac Wszystkich Świętych. The window of the driver's cab shattered, and neither he nor any passengers were hurt, according to the municipal transport operator MPK.
The motive is still under investigation
Kierwiński said the suspect, a 25-year-old Pole, appears to have been influenced by far-right ideas and held "very radical views", in remarks reported by the British news agency PA. The age given varies between sources: Reuters reported 24. Police are searching his home to establish a motive.
Five of the wounded are foreign nationals, and one of those killed was too, the minister said. Their countries have not been disclosed.
Mourning in the city, and the official response
Prime Minister Donald Tusk said the interior minister was keeping him informed and wrote that "the police are investigating the background and all the circumstances of the attack" — using the word zamach, meaning an assault or attack. He travelled from Warsaw to Kraków the same day. President Karol Nawrocki expressed sympathy for the victims, the wounded and their families.
City Hall set up a crisis team, and Mayor Łukasz Gibała signed an order declaring official mourning in the city from Sunday 8 to Wednesday 11 November, with mourning bands on flags and municipal events cancelled. Police asked operators of public webcams to suspend live broadcasts of the area so as not to interfere with the work on the scene, and residents and tourists were told to avoid the square.
From abroad, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said "Poland does not stand alone", and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called the case "a shocking crime". Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski said he had received dozens of messages of condolence from counterparts.
The Rynek Główny is the heart of Kraków's historic centre, a UNESCO World Heritage site, and one of the busiest tourist spots in the country.
With information from the City of Kraków's official service (krakow.pl), Al Jazeera, Reuters, CBS News, PBS NewsHour and the PA news agency.
