After rare mass killing, Poles mourn as authorities examine attacker’s far-right views

Mourning in Krakow

On Sunday, mourners placed candles and flowers near bullet holes in Krakow’s Main Square. Poland began a two-day period of national mourning after the previous day’s shooting. The Main Square reopened soon after a memorial service at St. Anne’s Church. Locals and visitors returned to grieve and reclaim the public space.

Attack and investigation

The shooting began around 3 p.m. Saturday, when the attacker drove through the square in Krakow’s Old Town and opened fire. The 24-year-old killed six people and wounded 15 before police shot and wounded him.

Polish defense officials described the attack as an act of terror. Prosecutors said they were investigating murders and attempted murders, including those of police officers, as a terrorist offense.

Victims and family home

The dead were four women and two men, regional governor Krzysztof Jan Klęczar said. Three women and one man were Polish; the others were a man from the United Kingdom and a woman from Austria.

Authorities also found the bodies of the attacker’s sister, mother and father at the family home in Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski, about 150 kilometers northeast of Krakow. They likely died from gunshot wounds.

Witnesses and responders

Warsaw native Magdalena Frączak said she sheltered an elderly woman during the shooting and suffered shrapnel wounds in six places on her back. She returned to the square Sunday, saying she felt she had to come back to Krakow.

The two officers who stopped the attacker were hospitalized and conscious by Sunday afternoon. Klęczar said their intervention may have prevented more victims; local surgeons Michał Pędziwiatr and Mateusz Wierdak also stepped in.