Six people were killed and 16 wounded after a gunman opened fire Saturday afternoon in a busy market square in Krakow , authorities said, in what Poland ’s defense minister called an “act of terror” on the people of the city.
The suspect , a 25-year-old Polish citizen, opened fire with an automatic weapon in the city’s Main Square, a major tourist destination.
He was fascinated with far-right ideologies and held “very radical” and “ultra-nationalistic” views, Polish Interior Minister Marcin Kierwiński said at a news conference. Polish Defense Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz called Saturday’s fatal shooting an “act of terror” on the people of Krakow, Poland’s second-largest city, which receives 15 million visitors a year, most of them passing through the Main Square.
Four women and two men were killed. He was taken to the hospital for surgery. Police found many other weapons, as well as ammunition, in his car.
Thirteen of the 16 people injured were brought to the hospital with serious injuries, and one of them was a foreign citizen.
Two police officers were wounded, one seriously, Kierwiński said. The perpetrator was shot and wounded during a gunfight with officers a short distance away from the initial violence, police said. Katarzyna Cisło, a spokesperson for the Krakow police, said the perpetrator was wearing military-style fatigues and a bulletproof vest and used a military-type long gun in the attack. He kept firing at the police even after being shot himself, she said.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk , in a post on X, praised the police officers who responded to Saturday’s tragedy. Both animals are alive, but one was grazed by a bullet and the other hit in the leg. White carriages drawn by horses are a main tourist attraction in the square.
Polish President Karol Nawrocki said his thoughts were with the victims, the wounded and their families. Animal rights group OTOZ Animals said the attacker also shot two horses.
