Poland began two days of national mourning on Sunday (November 8, 2026) and police bolstered security after six people were killed in a mass shooting in Krakow that authorities said was likely inspired by far-right ideology.
In Krakow, the old town’s main market square and the surrounding streets remained closed, with police allowing only essential workers to pass. Many nearby cafes were closed and flags at the city hall were at half-mast. Mourners placed candles in several locations in the area. Barriers were installed on streets leading onto the Krakowskie Przedmiescie street in the historic heart of the capital. Besides expressing shock at the killings, officials and members of the public praised the actions of police officers who apprehended the gunman after a close-range shootout.
The 24-year-old suspect’s parents and sister were later found dead at their home, and he remained in hospital in a critical condition, police and a local official said. In the capital, Warsaw, police said on Saturday (November 7) they were strengthening security measures in busy areas popular with tourists. In the suspect’s home town, Ostrowiec Swietokrzyski, about 200 km (124 miles) north of Krakow, police said they had found the bodies of his parents and sister and that investigations were ongoing.
Seventeen people, including two police officers and the gunman, were wounded in the attack, authorities said. “Yesterday, before 22:00, we discovered the bodies of three individuals — a 53-year-old man and two women, aged 52 and 21 — in an apartment located in a residential building in the centre of Ostrowiec Swietokrzyski,” police wrote on X.
