A gunman drove into Krakow's Main Market Square shortly before 15:00 local time on Saturday and opened fire. Police said he shot "at random people from his car", the BBC reported. Four women and two men were killed in Poland's second largest city. The square is one of Europe's largest medieval squares and is usually busy with tourists. According to the BBC, armed officers shot the suspect within three minutes of the attack starting.
Police then searched the suspect's home in Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski and found three more bodies. On Sunday, police confirmed they were his 53-year-old father, 52-year-old mother and 21-year-old sister. The Guardian reported that police said they had probably died of gunshot wounds. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said: "Until now in Poland we haven't had such drastic cases of terrorism."
The BBC said 16 people were taken to hospital, including five foreigners, two police officers and the attacker. The foreigners came from Austria, Britain, Germany, Portugal and Russia. Tusk named the wounded officers as Senior Constable Jakub Kulik and Senior Constable Artur Morański. He called them "true heroes", The Star reported. One officer was shot three times and was described as being in a "very critical condition". On Sunday, police spokesperson Katarzyna Cislo said everyone still in hospital, including both officers, was in a stable condition.
The suspect, a Polish man, wore military-style gear and carried a military-grade weapon. The BBC and The Star put his age at 25, while The Guardian said he was 24. The Guardian said local media named him as Michal O. Officials said he was not a soldier. More weapons and ammunition were found in his car. Interior Minister Marcin Kierwiński said "everything suggests that he was fascinated by far-right ideologies". He described the suspect's views as "ultra-nationalist". The suspect has had surgery and is under police guard in hospital.
The national prosecutor's office opened an investigation into what it called "a terrorist offence". Tusk said any "possible supporters of the perpetrator" would be detained and asked the public for information. Security was stepped up in Warsaw. The Guardian reported that two days of national mourning began on Sunday. Krakow has declared its own mourning period until November 11.
Condolences poured in from across Europe. UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham said he was "shocked and saddened". EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas called the attack a "tragedy that will be felt far beyond Poland". Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky, France's Emmanuel Macron, Germany's Friedrich Merz and Italy's Giorgia Meloni also condemned the shooting, according to The Guardian.