Six killed in Kraków Main Market shooting as false claims spread online

What happened

On Saturday, 7 November, after 15:00, a masked 24-year-old suspect, named in the reports as Michał O., drove a car onto Kraków's Main Market Square and opened fire on passersby. He then fled from police, crashed into another vehicle at the junction with Dietla Street, got out and shot at officers. Police returned fire, wounded him and subdued him, and he was taken to a hospital in Kraków. Six people died in the shooting and 16 were injured, a total that includes the suspect. Two police officers were among the wounded, and one of them suffered three gunshot wounds and is in very serious condition. Late on Saturday evening, police found the bodies of three people in an apartment in Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski where the suspect lived, his parents and his sister, and confirmed the deaths the following morning.

False claims about the police response

Hours after the shooting, false claims spread across social media, some started or repeated by politicians. One of the most persistent said that police were absent from the scene or arrived late. Tomasz Sakiewicz, editor-in-chief of Telewizja Republika, told viewers from the square that police were not there, arguing that "probably all its reserves had been taken to Warsaw". Rzeczpospolita reported that a police officer in plain clothes, with a police emblem on his left arm, stood directly behind Sakiewicz during the broadcast. Małopolska Police responded on X.

“We deny reports of a late police response. Officers began intervening IMMEDIATELY. The first patrol started acting 23 seconds after the report.”

Interior Minister Marcin Kierwiński said police fired their first shots at the suspect three minutes after the report.

AI-altered images and official warnings

Edited images, made from real video stills of the suspect after he had been shot, circulated online with sharpened, purported faces of him. Deputy Prime Minister and Digital Affairs Minister Krzysztof Gawkowski wrote on X that sharpened images often mislead, and that sharing them strengthens disinformation. He said the Centre for Countering Disinformation held an extraordinary meeting with the ministry's leadership overnight. PAP analysed several of the images and, according to the SynthID tool, they had been processed with Google technology.

“We are observing increased activity involving the reproduction of false and unverified information.”

Gawkowski added that every such message is being reported and that Polish services were working to stop the false narratives.

Political and media reaction

Robert Kropiwnicki, a Civic Coalition (KO) MP, accused Telewizja Republika on Radio Zet of inciting and lying, and said it should lose its broadcasting licence. Confederation MP Michał Wawer replied that Kropiwnicki was already moving to silence right-wing media and was exploiting the tragedy. Niezależna.pl reported that Sakiewicz said he had received threats punishable by law, including threats to kill him and to beat him, and warned those who joined the attacks that they were taking responsibility for further attacks.

The presidium of the Polish Media Council (Rada Polskich Mediów) called Sakiewicz's remarks an unacceptable use of the tragedy to build a political narrative.

“A tragedy cannot be fuel for a political dispute.”

The statement also noted that two police officers were seriously wounded and still fighting for their lives. It pointed to helplines: 116 111 for children and young people, 116 123 for adults, and 800 70 2222 for the Support Centre. The Kraków Youth Council asked media to publish information about psychological help.

Dead6

Injured, including suspect16

Dead

6 people

Injured, including suspect

16 people

Data from the article text