A week after the Main Square attack in Kraków, ten wounded remain in hospital

The attack on the Main Square

On Saturday, 7 November, shortly after 15:00, a 24-year-old man from Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski drove a black Subaru onto the Main Square in Kraków, near the Cloth Hall, and opened fire on people at random. Six people were killed: three Polish women aged 47, 53 and 61, a 51-year-old Pole, a 32-year-old Briton and a 51-year-old Austrian woman. Fifteen others were wounded, among them two police officers. Two senior constables stopped the attacker in an exchange of fire, and both were shot and taken to hospital. The attacker was critically injured as well and died in University Hospital on Monday, 9 November. In his flat in Ostrowiec, police found the bodies of his parents and of his 21-year-old sister, alongside an arsenal of weapons.

Ten still in hospital

Ten people remain in five Kraków hospitals in stable condition, the spokesman for the Małopolska voivode, Maksymilian Kosowski, told PAP on 14 November. He said the situation had not changed from 13 November, when voivode Krzysztof Jan Klęczar reported that the injured were improving. Both wounded officers have undergone surgery and have been woken from their coma, and President Karol Nawrocki awarded each of them the Officer's Cross of the Order of the Rebirth of Poland. Four cab drivers were hurt in the shooting. One has left hospital, while three remain, with further operations planned for some of them. Eryk Nęcek of the Kraków Cab Drivers Association said their return to work could take months, perhaps years, because the psychological wounds run as deep as the physical ones. More than 630,000 zloty has been raised online for their treatment.

Killed6

Wounded15

Still in hospital as of 14 November10

Killed

6 people

Wounded

15 people

Still in hospital as of 14 November

10 people

Data from the article text

Investigation and motive

The investigation is run by the Małopolska branch of the National Prosecutor's Office, which has questioned more than 200 witnesses. Four of the attacker's phones have been secured, and their analysis is meant to show how he prepared the attack and whether anyone helped him. Prosecutors do not rule out some form of complicity. A complaint sent to prosecutors challenges the shots fired at the attacker while he was lying on the ground. The motive has not been officially announced. A Gadsden flag, a yellow banner with a coiled snake used by libertarians and gun-rights supporters, hung in the attacker's room, but spokesman Przemysław Nowak said it carried no far-right or far-left symbolism. Justice minister Waldemar Żurek said the attacker's computer showed visits to pages about Anders Breivik and that a silencer was found in the car. Attention is also turning to weapon access: the attacker and his father legally held 11 firearms, and the attacker obtained his permit only in March this year.

Cabs return to the square

On 14 November, exactly a week after the attack, horse-drawn cabs returned to the Main Square and began carrying tourists again. At first only two carriages were on the square, and more had not yet come back. Nęcek said the drivers still feel fear, pain and anger, alongside a hope that the square will be what it was. He said their presence could help people feel that normal life is returning and ease the unease of those who have avoided the square since the attack. Speaking to the media on the square, he said:

“We believe that even from the worst event one can rise and move on.”

Remembrance and appeals

A Requiem concert is being held on 14 November in St. Mary's Basilica in memory of the victims, and candles burn in the places where people were killed. Mayor Łukasz Gibała thanked those who rushed to help on 7 November and asked people who sheltered during the attack to report where they received help. Reports should include a short description, the name of the shop, institution or venue, and the street. Gibała said:

“We want to reach the hosts and thank them for their openness and kindness.”

The question of the attacker's funeral also remains unresolved.