Gunman Kills Six in Kraków's Main Square; Poland Treats Attack as Terrorism
The 24-year-old attacker, who died Monday, also appears to have killed his parents and sister, and investigators recovered 11 firearms from two scenes.
Poland is in a second day of national mourning after a gunman opened fire in Kraków's Main Square on Saturday, killing six people and wounding 15. Prosecutors have classified the attack as a terrorist offense and opened an investigation into murder and attempted murder.
The attacker, a 24-year-old Polish man, drove into the square in the city's Old Town wearing military-style clothing and a bulletproof vest. Police said he kept firing after officers wounded him. He died at 4:30 a.m. Monday. Authorities have not publicly named him.
Four women and two men were killed. Three of the women and one of the men were Polish, and a man from the United Kingdom and a woman from Austria were also among the dead. Five foreigners were wounded, from the U.K., Portugal, Russia, Germany and Austria. Two officers who stopped the gunman remained hospitalized; both were conscious by Sunday afternoon after being in comas.
The attack extended beyond the square. Police found the bodies of the gunman's mother, father and sister at the family home in Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski, about 93 miles northeast of Kraków. They likely died of gunshot wounds. His father legally owned more than 10 guns, and investigators recovered 11 firearms from the two scenes.
Motive remains unclear. Interior Minister Marcin Kierwiński initially said the gunman held "very radical" and "ultra-nationalistic" views. Authorities later backed away from that description, and prosecutors said they have no findings that allow them to state an ideology categorically. They are examining whether anyone inspired or helped him and have secured his electronic devices.
Kraków marked the loss in a way it has not since World War II. St. Mary's Trumpet Call, the hourly bugle melody played from the basilica tower overlooking the square, was paused overnight Saturday into Sunday, the first time it has been missed since the war.
The shooting follows a run of violence in Poland. In mid-October, three school attacks in the Mazovia region over four days left one person dead; those attackers used knives or other sharp objects. Polish gun ownership is tightly licensed compared with the United States, and the case is likely to bring fresh scrutiny of how one household held so many firearms.
Prosecutors have said they are examining whether anyone inspired or helped the gunman, and they have secured his devices. The case also raises questions about how a single household came to hold so many firearms, since the investigators recovered 11 guns across the two scenes and the father legally owned more than 10. Poland observed two days of national mourning for the victims, who came from at least four countries.
