Attacker kills six in Kraków's Main Market Square; president decorates two injured officers

The attack on the Main Market Square

On Saturday, 7 November, a 24-year-old man drove a car onto the Main Market Square (Rynek Główny) in Kraków, wearing tactical clothing and a helmet, RMF FM reported. He then opened fire with an automatic weapon at passersby. Six people were killed and 15 were injured, including two police officers. The attacker, shot during an exchange of fire with police, is counted as the seventh fatality. Police also found the bodies of three people in a family flat in Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski, which the reports identify as the attacker's parents and sister.

Two officers decorated

On Monday, 9 November, Bartosz Grodecki, head of the National Security Bureau (BBN), announced on X that President Karol Nawrocki had decided to award the Officer's Cross of the Order of the Rebirth of Poland to two senior constables from Kraków. The awards honour outstanding service in maintaining public order and security, along with exceptional devotion and courage. Both officers were seriously injured in the exchange of fire with the attacker, and both have since come out of comas. In his post, Grodecki wrote:

“The heroic conduct of the officers who stopped the attacker at risk to their own lives deserves admiration and the highest recognition.”

Later that evening, Grodecki said on X that both officers had received their decorations from the president's hands.

A visit and conflicting accounts

Earlier on Monday, Grodecki told RMF FM that the president had planned to meet one of the wounded officers during his visit to Kraków, where he was due to take part in a Silent March in memory of the victims. Grodecki said:

“Yes, there is such a plan in the president's schedule, but only one of the officers can be visited.”

He added that one of the officers still had to remain in isolation on medical advice. The accounts therefore differ on the extent of contact: the interview spoke of a visit to one officer, while the evening post said both had received their decorations from the president.

Casualty figures

As reported on Monday, 9 November, six people were killed and 15 injured in the square, while the attacker's death is counted separately as the seventh fatality. The three bodies found in the family flat are reported as a separate count, and the articles do not give a combined total. Two of the injured are police officers. The figures are as reported on Monday, and the articles give no later update.

Killed in the Main Market Square6

Injured in the Main Market Square15

Bodies found in family flat, Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski3

Attacker shot dead during exchange of fire1

Killed in the Main Market Square

6 people

Injured in the Main Market Square

15 people

Bodies found in family flat, Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski

3 people

Attacker shot dead during exchange of fire

1 people

Data from the article text