Bodies of three people were found at the home of a man who allegedly opened fire in a crowded square in Poland’s Krakow on Saturday.
At least six people were killed while over a dozen others injured in the attack, Prime Minister Donald Tusk said.
A passing tram was also hit, its windows shattered, although no passengers were hurt, AP reported. Authorities identified the suspect as a Polish national. He was shot during an exchange of fire with police officers and arrested. He remains in hospital in a stable but critical condition after undergoing multiple surgeries. The shooting took place in one of Krakow’s busiest areas, where restaurants, cafes and tourist attractions lined the historic square. Police officers rushed to the scene and confronted the gunman.
The discovery came hours after the shooting in Krakow’s historic Main Market Square, a popular tourist destination, shortly before 3 pm local time.
Police said the attacker fired randomly at people from a car as residents fled for cover. The gunman drove into the busy square and began firing randomly at people from his vehicle, according to police. Authorities said officers shot him within three minutes of receiving the first report, preventing what could have been a much larger massacre.
Tusk said they were believed to be members of the gunman’s immediate family, Reuters reported. The bodies of two women and one man were discovered at the 25-year-old suspect’s home in Ostrowiec Swietokrzyski, nearly 200 km from Krakow.
Local media reported that residents of the building were evacuated as counterterrorism officers entered the premises. Poland’s Internal Security Agency and Military Counterintelligence Service are assisting with the investigation.
Interior minister Marcin Kierwinski said preliminary findings pointed to a possible far-right influence behind the attack. “Everything points to the fact that the shooter was influenced by far-right ideology, a matter that will also be subject to investigation,” Kierwinski told reporters.
