Six people were killed, and 15 people, including two police officers, were injured in a shooting near the main market square of Krakow in southern Poland, according to local authorities on Saturday.
Four of the victims killed in the shooting were women, and two were men, according to Krakow Police. One of the victims was a British citizen.
Three additional victims, two women and one man, were later found deceased in the shooter's home, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced. The additional victims are suspected to be members of the shooter's family.
Police stated that the suspected shooter, an unidentified Polish citizen, began firing at random civilians from their car before being shot by police officers, detained, and transported to a local hospital.
Law enforcement reported that the shooter used an AR-15 rifle in the attack and was dressed in military-style clothing. Additional weapons and ammunition were found in the shooter’s vehicle.
After securing the scene, the square and adjacent streets were closed off as law enforcement inspected the car for potential explosive devices and conducted further investigation.
"Everything points to the fact that the shooter was influenced by far-right ideology, a matter that will also be subject to investigation," Polish Interior Minister Marcin Kierwinski stated during a news briefing.
Kierwinski added that police officers and agents from Poland’s Internal Security Agency remain at the scene of the shooting and at the shooter’s family home.
PM Tusk extends condolences to family, loved ones of victims
A local told Polish newspaper Gazeta Krakowska that his wife works at the square and witnessed the shooting.
“She said someone was shooting a gun in the market square. People panicked and started running into the shops. Then, apparently, a police officer shot someone,” the local said.
Tusk offered his condolences to the loved ones of the victims of the shooting and praised the police officers who risked their lives to detain the shooter in a post on X/Twitter.
He asserted that an investigation is ongoing to establish the circumstances of the attack and urged politicians not to exploit the tragedy of the shooting.
The mass shooting of unprecedented scale adds to the sense of unease built by a string of school stabbings in October, which authorities said was influenced by violent and extremist content online.
Kierwinski said five foreigners were among the 16 wounded who were taken to hospital. Police said one of the dead people identified so far was a British citizen.
The Portuguese Foreign Ministry said in a statement that a Portuguese woman was among the injured and was in hospital, without providing more details.
Polish authorities had earlier said that the dead were four women and two men and that two police officers were wounded.
Military-style clothes
Katarzyna Cislo, a local police spokesperson, said: "The shooter was wearing military-like clothes and used military weapons. Many ... weapons and ammunition were found in his vehicle too."
Police spokesperson Andrzej Fijolek told private broadcaster TVN 24 that the assailant used an AR-15 rifle and that he had a firearms license.
According to police, the alleged gunman was a 24-year-old Polish citizen. "The only known perpetrator of the incident is in police custody," they added in a post on X. They did not mention a motive for the shootings.
Police said they started to receive reports at around 3 p.m. that an assailant had opened fire from a car and had shot randomly at people in the square in Poland's second-largest city, a popular tourist destination.
Unverified footage shared on social media showed people fleeing the scene as shots rang out and police sirens blared. Other video showed two people lying on blood-spattered paving stones and bystanders trying to resuscitate them. A third person lay motionless on the ground nearby.
"I saw shots being fired from the driver's side window, and smoke was coming out. I ran to the police station in the main market square; when I burst inside, it was full of people hiding on the floor," a man who gave his name only as Konrad and witnessed the shooting, told news website Interia.
A 67-year-old man called Julek told Reuters that he saw a dark car appear suddenly before the driver started shooting at a group of people and drove off.
"If we had been two minutes earlier, we might have been shot," he said.
Unverified footage on social media showed shooting in the Main Market Square as traditional horse-drawn carriages, popular with tourists, passed through or were parked nearby.
A man could be seen taking cover in one of the many restaurants and cafes that line the elegant square.
National mourning
Kierwinski praised the heroism of officers who apprehended the suspect.
"The police prevented a much larger massacre that could have otherwise occurred," he said. "They fired shots at the attacker just three minutes after receiving the report."
A spokesperson for President Karol Nawrocki said he would declare a period of national mourning on November 8 and 9.
"My thoughts are with the victims, those injured, and their families," Nawrocki wrote on X.
Expressions of shock and condolence flooded in from around Europe.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy called the shooting "shocking." "On behalf of the Ukrainian people, and personally, I extend my sincere condolences to the families and loved ones of the victims," he wrote on X.
European foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas called it "a tragedy that will be felt far beyond Poland."