Kraków shooting on Main Square kills six; Republika coverage draws over 5,000 KRRiT complaints

Attack on Kraków's Main Square

On Saturday, 7 November, a car was driven onto Kraków's Main Square after 15:00 and the 24-year-old suspect opened fire on passers-by, according to Niezależna.pl, which cites official information from the services and the Małopolska voivode. The suspect then fled from police, crashed into another car at the junction with Dietla Street, got out and fired at officers. Police returned fire, wounded him and subdued him, and he was taken to a Kraków hospital. Six people were killed, and Niezależna.pl reports 16 injured including the suspect, while OKO.press reports 15 more people wounded. Two police officers were among the wounded, and one of them suffered three gunshot wounds and was described as being in very serious condition. Niezależna.pl reported that the suspect died in hospital on the morning of 9 November.

Investigation and motive

Late on the evening of 7 November, police confirmed that the bodies of three people, the suspect's parents and sister, had been found in an apartment in Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski where he had lived. Interior Minister Marcin Kierwiński said on 7 November that everything indicated the suspect was fascinated by far-right ideologies, and on 8 November he told TVN24 that this was 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 a motive. On 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.

Republika's live coverage

Tomasz Sakiewicz, head of TV Republika, was at the square and went live on air shortly after the shooting, and Niezależna.pl quotes him saying that for an hour there was effectively no police. According to the station's publisher, Tomasz Kalinowski, Sakiewicz called him at 15:19 and asked to be put on air from the scene, and for about 20 minutes Republika was the only direct source from the square. Sakiewicz defended his report in a post on X on Saturday, writing:

“Seeing what I saw and hearing what I heard, I could not honestly tell viewers anything else.”

OKO.press, which has filed its own complaint with KRRiT, says bystanders told him he was wrong while police sirens could already be heard behind his report. The outlet also says a police officer stood just behind Sakiewicz while he claimed that no officers were present.

Regulator and media questions

According to naTemat.pl, KRRiT has received more than 5,000 complaints about TV Republika, and its chair Agnieszka Glapiak has launched an explanatory procedure. KRRiT will send the broadcaster a formal letter asking for explanations and the recording, and the broadcaster must keep material for 28 days after it is broadcast. The regulator has one year from a violation to impose a fine on a radio or television broadcaster. Culture Minister Marta Cienkowska said she had sent her own complaint to KRRiT on Sunday, 8 November, writing:

“A tragedy is not fuel for political propaganda. KRRiT must examine this.”

The Council of Polish Media said Sakiewicz's statement grossly violated the standards expected of anyone who presents themselves as a journalist. Niezależna.pl, together with Gazeta Polska Codziennie and Telewizja Republika, has asked the city for CCTV footage from 14:50 to 15:30 on 7 November and asked police how many officers were on patrol and how many were sent to Warsaw. Questions about patrol equipment were first sent on Sunday and remained unanswered at the time of publication.