Six killed in Kraków attack, 24-year-old attacker dies in hospital

The attack in Kraków's Old Town

On Saturday, 7 November, a 24-year-old man drove his car into a crowd in the central square of Kraków's Old Town, a leading tourist destination in Poland's second-largest city, and then opened fire. Police said he wore military-style clothing and a bulletproof vest. Prosecutors said he carried four weapons during the attack, including two AR-15-type semi-automatic rifles, and that dozens, if not hundreds, of shots were fired. Police spokeswoman Katarzyna Cisło said he kept shooting even after officers wounded him. Videos posted on social media showed people fleeing into the narrow streets around the square while rescuers tried to revive the wounded.

Victims and the suspect's family

Six people died in the square, four women and two men. Małopolska voivode Krzysztof Jan Klęczar said that three women and one man among the dead were Polish, and that a British man and an Austrian woman were also killed. Fifteen people injured in the attack remained in hospital on 9 November, 14 of them in stable condition, while one police officer involved in the arrest was in critical condition, Klęczar told reporters. Officers also found the bodies of the attacker's parents and sister at the family home. Polish authorities attribute nine killings to the suspect in total, and the attacker, identified as Michał O., died in hospital on 9 November after a series of surgeries.

Poland4

United Kingdom1

Austria1

Poland

4 people

United Kingdom

1 people

Austria

1 people

Data from the article text

Motive and conflicting statements

The government announced that the attacker, a 24-year-old from Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski in southeast Poland, was possibly inspired by far-right ideology, but it has not released further details. Interior minister Marcin Kierwiński said he had an intense interest in far-right ideologies and held very radical, ultranationalist views. The nationalist opposition criticised that claim, and Law and Justice leader Jarosław Kaczyński called it a shameless lie. Government spokesman Adam Zlapka later told TVN24 that officials should avoid comment until the facts are clear, and government officials appeared to walk back their initial statements. Prosecutor Przemysław Nowak said nothing allows investigators to link the attacker categorically to any particular ideology, and that the inquiry into his motive continues. Daily Mail reported that he was a cadet officer, while police said he was not a soldier.

Investigation, response and international reaction

Justice minister Waldemar Żurek said on 9 November that the investigation would continue despite the attacker's death, aiming to establish whether he acted alone or was inspired by an organisation. He told Radio Zet that evidence was being gathered but that he would not reveal or show it, and he asked for restraint. Authorities have characterised the attack as a terrorist act, and an interior ministry spokesperson said several emblems on the attacker's clothing had been partly examined and assessed. Authorities also decided to suspend the traditional trumpet call at St Mary's for the first time since the Second World War, and the government will revise the rules on gun ownership licences. UN Secretary-General António Guterres said on Sunday, 8 November, that he was deeply shocked and saddened by the attack. In a statement issued by his spokesman Stéphane Dujarric, he condemned the senseless act of violence and sent condolences to the victims' families, the government and the people of Poland. Poland had long regarded itself as safer than western European neighbours that have experienced similar attacks, and the scenes of bodies and blood on a street in the city's historic centre shocked the country.