The key facts
- Polish police said the detainee acted alone and is a citizen of the republic
- The death toll rose from two to five, with at least 12 people injured
- Rumors of a police officer's death were refuted: two officers were injured
Police refute reports of an accomplice
Polish police have refuted reports circulating about a second participant in the shooting in central Kraków. According to law enforcement, the detainee is a citizen of the republic, and claims that he had an accomplice do not correspond to reality. 'The only known perpetrator of the incident is in police custody,' law enforcement said, as quoted by Life.ru.
What is known about the attacker and the shootout
The fact that the attacker acted alone was also reported by Kraków police spokesperson Katarzyna Cisło in a comment to the Associated Press. According to her, additional weapons and ammunition were found in the shooter's car; the man was dressed in military-style clothing and used a long-barreled weapon. Police also refuted reports of the death of a law enforcement officer: two officers were injured in the shootout. The attacker opened fire on them during an attempted arrest, after which he was wounded in return fire and taken to hospital.
Course of the attack and the number of victims
The mass shooting took place on November 7 at around 3:00 pm on Kraków's Main Market Square. A man in a black Subaru without license plates drove along Sławkowska Street, firing at passers-by. The car was stopped on Dietla Street, where a shootout with police occurred. The death toll rose from two to five people, and at least 12 more were injured. Emergency services received about 37 reports of gunfire; numerous police patrols and ambulance crews arrived at the square, and a medical helicopter was used to evacuate the injured.
Authorities' reaction and published images
Life.ru published photographs of the armed man, presumably the perpetrator of the attack: in the images he is shown wearing a helmet and camouflage uniform, with a weapon lying nearby that outwardly resembles a rifle from the AR-15/M4 family. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk ordered that all circumstances of the incident be established, while Justice Minister Waldemar Żurek reported that prosecutors were working at the crime scene. The attacker's motives and the official conclusions of the investigation are not yet reported in the published materials.
