Kraków plans barriers and police honours after six killed in square attack

The attack and its toll

On 7 November a 24-year-old man drove a car onto the Main Market Square in Kraków and opened fire with an automatic weapon at passers-by. Six people were killed and 15 were injured, including two police officers, according to most reports, while Rzeczpospolita put the number of wounded at 16. Police returned fire and shot the attacker, who died in hospital early on 9 November, bringing the death toll to seven. Officers also found three bodies in the family flat of the attacker in Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski, those of his parents and a sister. Professor Grzegorz Gajos credited the first minutes after the attack, when medical staff at the scene began treatment, with saving lives.

Hospital care for the wounded

Professor Grzegorz Gajos told a press conference that three patients with chest injuries are being treated at the John Paul II specialist hospital, and two of them have had complex operations. He said their condition is stable. Gajos said he could not give more detail under current law, acknowledging earlier reports in the media.

“I cannot speak in detail about these patients, the law does not allow us to.”

Four horse-carriage drivers were wounded. On 9 November, Dr Tomasz Sorysz, acting medical director of the Gabriel Narutowicz Municipal Specialist Hospital, said a woman with a neck wound had undergone surgery to remove bullet fragments and had been discharged home. Three others remain in hospital in serious condition: two women and a man. According to Dorota Litwicka, head of the Kraków Carriage Drivers Association, the man, shot twice in the abdomen, is in a coma, while the second badly wounded woman was shot in the head and twice in the chest. Four horses were also hurt and are receiving veterinary care.

Cities tighten access to centres

Kraków's city government will block the approaches to the Main Market Square and the Small Market Square with heavy concrete barriers, a temporary measure to be installed in the coming days. A permanent protection system is still under analysis and will be consulted with rescue and security services. City president Łukasz Gibała said the city wants barriers that sink into the ground so emergency vehicles can pass, with the first ones due this year and more next year. He added that talks with the voivode's representatives have taken place and that both offices are ready to spend 6 million zloty on the project. On 9 November, Małopolska police commander Artur Bednarek said entry rules for the square should be reconsidered, while weighing the needs of the different people who use the space.

Other cities have also acted, according to Rzeczpospolita. Warsaw closed entries to Krakowskie Przedmieście just an hour after the attack, Lublin convened a crisis staff on Sunday and will allocate an extra 500,000 zloty for police patrols in its centre, and Wrocław and Gdańsk already use year-round barriers. The paper also reported an order to fence off Kraków's Old Town, with automatic posts for emergency vehicles. Rzeczpospolita recalled the Berlin truck attack of December 2016, which killed 13 people, and the Magdeburg attack in 2024, which killed six and injured more than 200.

Berlin truck attack, December 201613

Magdeburg attack, 20246

Kraków attack, 7 November 20266

Berlin truck attack, December 2016

13 people killed

Magdeburg attack, 2024

6 people killed

Kraków attack, 7 November 2026

6 people killed

Data from the article text

Dr Michał Beim, a transport and spatial planning expert at Poznań University of Life Sciences, told Rzeczpospolita that the chase did not slow the car down.

“I was surprised that the chase through pedestrian zones in the city centre did not slow the vehicle down at all.”

Honours and the carriage stand

On 9 November, Kraków City Council chair Jakub Kosek said all councillors back honorary citizenship for the police officers injured in the attack, and a new award, Cracoviae Virtus, is planned.

“Today we discussed this at the main committee. All councillors are in favour of this idea.”

The city office has closed the carriage stand on the Main Market Square until further notice, along with all replacement stands in the city. Dorota Litwicka said the drivers intend to return once they get back on their feet. She expected the first carriages to return on Saturday, 14 November, while the stand stays closed until Friday, 13 November. The association has started a fundraiser for treatment, rehabilitation and the families of the wounded, and organisers warned that the injured face many months of recovery.