The key facts

  • Six killed and 15 wounded in a shooting on Kraków's main square on Saturday
  • President Nawrocki declared national mourning for 8 and 9 November
  • The bodies of the suspect's sister, mother and father were found in his house

Mourning across the country

Poland has declared two days of national mourning after a shooting in the centre of Kraków that claimed the lives of six people. President Karol Nawrocki signed a decree on mourning throughout the entire country on 8 and 9 November, his press secretary said (Anadolu). The mourning began at midnight: state flags were lowered to half-mast, websites added black ribbons to their logos, radio and television companies changed their broadcast schedules, and entertainment events were cancelled.

What happened

The attack took place on Saturday afternoon on the Main Square (Rynek Główny) in the Old Town, a popular tourist destination. According to the police, the 24-year-old suspect, dressed in a military uniform, drove up to the square in a car and fired indiscriminately at people. He was wounded by the police and is in hospital in critical condition (Deutsche Welle).

Victims and investigation

Among the dead is a British citizen; among the wounded, according to the authorities, are citizens of Austria, the United Kingdom, Germany, Portugal and Russia. Two police officers were also injured, one of them in critical condition — the authorities appealed to residents to donate blood. Several horse-drawn carriage drivers were seriously hurt, the Kraków Carriage Drivers' Association told the PAP agency.

Bodies in the suspect's house and the investigation's version

The police reported on Sunday that the three bodies found in the suspect's house in the town of Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski, about 150 km north-east of Kraków, belong to his sister, mother and father; several firearms were seized from the flat. According to Polish media reports, the suspect had no criminal record, and he and his father were members of a shooting club. Prime Minister Donald Tusk called the attack an act of far-right 'terrorism', but the authorities have not named a motive. The National Prosecutor's Office has opened an investigation on suspicion of a 'terrorist crime'. Interior Minister Marcin Kierwiński stated: 'Everything indicates that he was obsessed with far-right ideologies.' The square remained partially cordoned off on Sunday morning, and residents brought candles in memory of the victims.