Shooting on Kraków's Main Market Square leaves six dead and 16 injured

The attack

Shortly after 3 pm on Saturday, 7 November, a masked 24-year-old drove a car onto the Main Market Square in Kraków and began shooting at people in the open space by the Cloth Hall, between the Sławkowska and St John Street exits. Police identify the suspect as Michał O., a Polish citizen from Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski, who held a firearms permit and had no previous convictions or police records. Pedestrians ran for cover in nearby gateways, restaurants and cafés. Police officers returned fire, and the suspect was wounded, detained and taken to hospital. Six people were killed and 16 were injured in most reports, although one earlier report from Saturday evening put the number of injured at 15.

Carriage drivers among the wounded

The Kraków Carriage Drivers Association said two of its members were fighting for their lives and several others had been seriously hurt. Its president, Dorota Litwicka, said the drivers had come to the square to work, as they do every day, when the shooting began.

“The victims of a madman today were carriage drivers, people who came to the Main Square to work as they do every day.”

According to the association's statement, the horses suffered only superficial wounds, but Litwicka described the psychological damage as the hardest blow the drivers had faced in their years working on the square. Interia reported that five of the injured are carriage drivers. Among the victims are three Polish women and a British citizen. The association also expressed sympathy for the families of all those killed and wounded.

“We are united with the families of the victims, with the families of all the victims of the madman. We are holding on.”

Killed on the square6

Injured (most reports)16

Bodies found at suspect's home3

Killed on the square

6

Injured (most reports)

16

Bodies found at suspect's home

3

Data from the article text

Police, the suspect and the search of his home

A spokesman for the Małopolska Voivodeship Office told Reuters that the suspect's condition is stable but very critical. The same spokesman said the wounded police officers had undergone surgery and were in stable condition. Justice Minister Waldemar Żurek wrote on social media that a senior police constable was fighting for his life, with one lung no longer functioning, and appealed for donations of AB Rh+ blood. Prime Minister Donald Tusk said three bodies were found at the suspect's home in Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski, two women and a man, who appear to be his immediate family. Citing the Interior Ministry (MSWiA), Reuters reported that five of the injured are foreign nationals from Austria, Germany, Portugal, Russia and the United Kingdom. A Polsat News reporter said one of the dead is a young foreign student on an Erasmus exchange programme in Kraków.

Mourning and reaction across the border

Poland declared two days of national mourning starting at midnight from Saturday into Sunday. The horse-carriage rank on the square will be closed on Sunday, 8 November. Czech police said they will deploy more officers with long weapons and ballistic vests in crowded public places, and will coordinate with local authorities on barriers at planned cultural events. Czech police said the Kraków shooting should not be directly connected to the Czech Republic, but they introduced precautionary measures anyway. The Polish Embassy in Prague urged Poles in the Czech Republic to follow the guidance of Czech public order services.