Kraków Main Square attacker dies in hospital as investigators probe far-right and Rodger links

Attack and casualties

On Saturday, 7 November, shortly after 15:00, the 24-year-old drove a car onto Kraków's Main Square (Rynek Główny), wearing tactical clothing and a helmet, and opened fire with an automatic weapon at passers-by. Six people were killed: three Polish women aged 47, 53 and 61, a 32-year-old British man, a 51-year-old Austrian woman and a man of about 50. Reports differ on the number of injured, with RMF citing 15 and naTemat.pl citing 16, including two police officers. The attacker was wounded in an exchange of fire with officers and taken to a Kraków hospital, where he died at 4:30 on 9 November. Over the weekend, the bodies of his parents and his 21-year-old sister were found in a flat in Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski.

Kraków Main Square6

Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski flat3

Attacker, died in hospital1

Kraków Main Square

6

Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski flat

3

Attacker, died in hospital

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Autopsies and ammunition

On Monday, 9 November, pathologists examined nine bodies: the six people killed on the square and three relatives found in Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski. Eryk Stasielak, head of the Małopolska branch of the National Prosecutor's Office, said preliminary results show extensive internal injuries caused mainly by gunshot wounds. On 10 November the attacker's body was examined at the Forensic Medicine Department of the Jagiellonian University Medical College, where a series of gunshot wounds was recorded. Additional biological material was secured, and a forensic opinion will follow. Investigators are also trying to establish whether the ammunition was standard or special, and Stasielak said a very large quantity had been secured.

“We will now consider whether standard ammunition was used or some special ammunition, which additional injuries could indicate.”

Motive inquiry

Justice Minister Waldemar Żurek told Radio Kraków on 10 November that the investigation shows "a very strong thread of right-wing extremism". He said visits to websites about Anders Breivik are visible on the attacker's computer. Żurek also cited a Gadsden flag, which he associated with participants in the attack on the United States Capitol. Onet, citing sources in the Internal Security Agency (ABW), reported that a "GGER" inscription was found on the attacker's workplace locker, which the services link to "Good Game Elliot Rodger". Rodger carried out a 2014 attack in Isla Vista, California, that killed six people. Kraków police who accessed the computer established that the attacker had searched for information on Charles Manson and Ted Kaczynski.

“There are elements indicating that the perpetrator was fascinated by extreme ideologies, but we need more time to draw conclusions about his motivation.”

Open questions

Małopolska governor Krzysztof Klęczar confirmed the time of death as 4:30 on 9 November. The hospital, through spokeswoman Maria Włodkowska, said the attacker had several operations but did not disclose the nature or number of his wounds. Prosecutors are still waiting for the forensic medical opinion, and experts in weapons and ammunition are expected to weigh in on the ammunition question. The motive inquiry is examining the computer, the workplace and the attacker's surroundings, and the forensic opinion on the attacker's wounds has not yet been issued.