The gunman who fired into crowds in Krakow’s Main Market Square died in a hospital bed, with prosecutors declining to name a motive.
The Polish man who killed six people and wounded at least 15 in the square on Saturday, Nov. 7, 2026, died at 4:30 a.m. Monday, Nov. 9, police said. He had been in critical condition since officers shot him and had been operated on multiple times. Authorities have given his age as both 24 and 25.
Interior Minister Marcin Kierwiński had told a news conference that the attacker held “very radical” and “ultranationalistic” views. By Kierwiński’s account, every sign pointed to a man captivated by far-right thinking.
On Monday, authorities backed away from that account and declined to state a motive.
Prosecutors opened an investigation Sunday, Nov. 8, into the murder and attempted murder of numerous people, including police officers, saying the attack constituted a terrorist offense. To Defense Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz, the bloodshed was an “act of terror” against Krakow’s residents. Investigators have secured the attacker’s electronic devices and are examining whether anyone inspired or helped him.
He Kept Firing After Being Shot
Dressed in combat-style clothing and body armor, the attacker carried a military-grade rifle, according to Krakow police spokesperson Katarzyna Cisło. He moved by car from point to point around the square, shooting each time he stopped. Officers shot and wounded him a short distance from the initial violence. He kept shooting at them anyway.
Cisło described a “wild ride” around the square, which is why people were hit at several locations. She said the gunman appears to have acted alone and that the public is safe. A tram driver reported that his cabin window shattered after a man in a moving car shot at the tram near the square. Two horses were shot and both survived, one grazed by a bullet and one hit in the leg.
Videos posted by witnesses show people fleeing the square for cover on small streets nearby, and first responders trying to resuscitate victims.
The Two Officers Who Stopped Him
Both officers who brought the gunman down remained hospitalized Monday. They had been in comas and were conscious by Sunday afternoon.
Krzysztof Jan Klęczar, the Malopolska regional governor, said Sunday that far more people could have been killed if the two had not intervened. On X, Prime Minister Donald Tusk hailed the officers who responded.
Four Women and Two Men
Four of the dead, three women and a man, were Polish citizens; the other two were a British man and an Austrian woman. Visitors from the U.K., Portugal, Russia, Germany and Austria accounted for five of the wounded.
Three Bodies at the Family Home
Hours after the shooting, Tusk said authorities had found three bodies — the assailant’s sister, mother and father — inside his house in Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski, a city about 93 miles northeast of Krakow. They likely died of gunshot wounds, authorities said.
Investigators recovered nearly a dozen firearms from the two scenes. Kierwiński said the attacker’s father legally owned more than 10 guns and that the attacker owned guns as well. It was not immediately clear whether the firearm used in the attack, or the guns in his car, were legal. About 411,000 people hold gun permits in Poland, a country of 37 million, and interest in gun ownership has been rising.
Flowers Beside the Bullet Holes
Mourners laid candles and flowers alongside bullet holes in the central square Sunday night. Poland marked two days of national mourning, the second falling on Monday. In Warsaw, Mayor Rafał Trzaskowski announced increased security along main streets in the capital’s old town, including road barriers. President Karol Nawrocki offered his sympathy to the dead, the injured and their relatives.
Poland rarely sees killings on this scale. In mid-October, three attacks at schools in Mazovia province, in the center of the country, took place within four days, leaving one person dead and many wounded, including children. Kacper Rekawek, a senior researcher at the International Center for Counterterrorism in The Hague, said the Krakow attacker’s military gear, guns and overall look resembled those of other extreme-right lone actors who have struck across Europe.
Krakow stays in official mourning until Wednesday, Nov. 11. Mayor Łukasz Gibała said the city will remain open to visitors; roughly 15 million tourists come each year, most of them passing through the Main Square.
Overnight Saturday into Sunday, the square was silent on the hour. The hourly bugle call from St. Mary’s Basilica, a five-note tune sounded from its tallest tower, fell silent in tribute, a break not seen since World War II.