Six killed in Kraków shooting as PiS defends Constitutional Tribunal protest camp

The attack on Kraków's Main Square

On Saturday, 7 November 2026, at around 15:00, a 24-year-old man from Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski drove a black Subaru onto the Main Square in Kraków and opened fire on passers-by, according to RMF FM. He wore tactical clothing and a helmet. Six people were killed, four women and two men. RMF FM reports 15 people injured, while Rzeczpospolita gives the figure as 16. Two police officers are among the wounded. Two young officers returned fire and detained the attacker near the junction of Dietla and Stradomska streets. The trunk of the car held two AR-15 rifles, two pistols and roughly 500 rounds of ammunition. Police then searched his flat in Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski, where three bodies were found, RMF FM reports. The same outlet says the suspect died on Monday, 9 November.

No established motive

Investigators have not yet established a motive. Interior Minister Marcin Kierwiński said on 7 November that everything indicated the attacker had very radical views and was fascinated by far-right ideologies. On 8 November, speaking to TVN24, he described this as one of the first hypotheses, which police were verifying. Prosecutor General Waldemar Żurek said on 8 November that it was too early to speak about the motive. On Monday, 9 November, prosecutor Eryk Stasielak of the National Prosecutor's Office told PAP that investigators were still examining the motive. Government spokesman Adam Szłapka said such assessments should be withheld until the services have full information.

Mourning and the protest in front of the Tribunal

President Karol Nawrocki declared two days of national mourning for 8 and 9 November. PiS leader Jarosław Kaczyński appealed for cancelling a demonstration against the government's policy on the Constitutional Tribunal, which RMF FM dates to Sunday, 8 November. On Monday, 9 November, PiS spokesman Rafał Bochenek wrote on X that the appeal concerned parallel events in other Polish cities organised by PiS during the mourning period. He said the camp in front of the Tribunal must continue, because its goal of defending Poland against a coup remains valid. He added a warning:

“Destroying principles and weakening democratic institutions always leads to tragedy.”

On Monday morning, tents of the National Movement and Gazeta Polska clubs still stood in front of the Tribunal, with many banners criticising the authorities. Only a few individual protesters walked along Aleja Szucha, while representatives of the Border Defence Movement in yellow vests were more visible.

Steel barriers and a disputed leadership

On Monday morning, 9 November, reinforced steel barriers and police cordons went up around the Tribunal building in Warsaw, and no official reason was given. Supreme Court judge Kamil Zaradkiewicz asked on X who had ordered the barriers and why. Andrzej Stróżny, whom NIEZALEZNA.PL identifies as an adviser to Bogdan Święczkowski, asked what else was missing, such as watchtowers or electrified wire. Warsaw mayor Rafał Trzaskowski said on Sunday, 8 November, that police had stepped up preventive actions in areas frequented by residents and tourists after the Kraków attack. Some commentary linked the barriers to the Independence March on 11 November, but the sources do not establish a link.

The dispute began on 30 October, when judges elected by the current Sejm majority said that Anna Korwin-Piotrowska, the most senior judge, had taken over leadership of the Tribunal. She ordered a pause in the duties of president Bogdan Święczkowski and vice president Bartłomiej Sochański. Święczkowski says he is the building's sole administrator and calls the decisions of the 'usurpers' unlawful. He told reporters:

“They set up additional barriers without my knowledge or consent.”

Korwin-Piotrowska has told staff not to come to work for the time being and has barred non-staff from entering. Eight judges elected by the current majority are in the building. She has called a general assembly for Tuesday, 10 November, to discuss changes to the Tribunal's rules. Earlier, presidential minister Marcin Przydacz said the early-November meeting reflected a political decision by Donald Tusk's government and the police protecting it.