Kraków attacker dies in hospital as autopsies begin; three relatives found dead in Ostrowiec

The attack in Kraków

On Saturday, 7 November, a 24-year-old man reportedly drove a car onto the Main Square (Rynek Główny) in Kraków and opened fire with an automatic weapon at people there. Six people were killed and 16 were injured, among them two police officers. The attacker was also shot and wounded. In the family's flat in Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski, police found the bodies of three of his closest relatives.

Death and the investigation

The attacker died in hospital on Monday morning, 9 November, MSWiA spokesperson Karolina Gałecka confirmed during a broadcast on TOK FM Radio. Before his death his condition had been described as critical. Prosecutors had been preparing to analyse the evidence with a view to charging him and possibly asking a court to order temporary detention. The case is handled by the Małopolska branch office of the National Prosecutor's Office, which holds that the same person was responsible for both the Kraków attack and the killings of the family members in Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski. Prosecutors have said the investigation is continuing despite the death.

Autopsies and injuries

Prosecutors said autopsies of the six victims in Kraków and of the three people killed in Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski were to begin on Monday morning. Prosecutor Eryk Stasielak of the National Prosecutor's Office told PAP that the examinations could take about two days because of the complicated character of the gunshot wounds. The figures for those killed and injured are still those given in the early reporting of the attack.

Killed on Main Square, Kraków6

Injured on Main Square, Kraków16

Family members found dead, Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski3

Killed on Main Square, Kraków

6 people

Injured on Main Square, Kraków

16 people

Family members found dead, Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski

3 people

Data from the article text

Emblems on the attacker's clothing

Gałecka said many emblems and patches were found on the attacker's clothing, and that some of them had already been partly examined and interpreted. She said the items were linked to different motives.

“There were many emblems and patches linked to different motives, which are being examined by specialists at this moment.”

She declined to describe what the symbols looked like or what they stood for, saying that question belongs to the prosecutors' investigation. Gałecka also said every piece of clothing and every item of evidence is being checked. She warned that a large amount of information and disinformation about the attack has circulated online.

“I would very much like to calm emotions, but also not to confirm or deny the information appearing online about the emblems, the motives or the evidence.”

Gałecka's remarks were made in the same broadcast in which she confirmed the attacker's death, so the statements on emblems and motives remain unverified by the authorities.