Krakow Gunman Dead, Politicians Already Fighting Over Corpses

The 24-year-old man who killed six people in Krakow's Main Square on Saturday died in hospital on Monday morning, Polish police said. "We inform you that the perpetrator of the tragic events died this morning in the hospital," they wrote on X. Within hours of the shooting, though, the dead were already being counted in a different currency: political advantage.

The facts first. Wearing military-style clothing and a bulletproof vest, the gunman drove into the Old Town square shortly before 15:00 on Saturday, November 7, and opened fire from his car. He kept firing even after officers wounded him, police said. Armed officers shot him within three minutes. Six people died: four women and two men. Four were Polish. A man from the United Kingdom and a woman from Austria were also killed. Sixteen people were taken to hospital, including five foreigners, two police officers and the attacker himself. France 24 called it Poland's worst fatal shooting since the end of communism in 1989.

Who Showed Up First

No ambulances were available when it started. Two surgeons eating near the square ran toward the gunfire. "We rushed into the area where the shooting was and started our rescue, because there were no ambulances available, there were no professionals around," Professor Michal Pędziwiatr told the BBC. His colleague, named by local media as Dr Mateusz Wierdak, used his hand to stem the bleeding of the most severely injured policeman until an ambulance arrived. Pędziwiatr said he "undoubtedly" saved the officer's life.

Meanwhile, Jacek Siewiera, the former head of Poland's National Security Council, told Euronews the security apparatus fell short. For three decades the country avoided terrorist attacks. It's a record the state was proud of, until a man with a firearms permit drove a car into a crowded square.

The Arsenal Came From Home

Polish media reported the suspect held a firearms permit and may have taken his weapons from the family home. Four firearms were found in his car, including two AR-15 rifles and two handguns, plus several hundred rounds of ammunition, according to Przemysław Nowak of the National Prosecutor's Office. At the family home in Ostrowiec Swietokrzyski, investigators found three more bodies: his 53-year-old father, 52-year-old mother and 21-year-old sister. They likely died from gunshot wounds. France 24 reported he is thought to have killed nine people in all.

Terrorism, Labelled and Weaponised

Prosecutors opened an investigation treating the act as a terrorist offence. Poland's interior minister said the suspect was fascinated by "far-right ideologies" and a minister called him an "ultra-nationalist", but the BBC reported officials are still investigating motivation, and Nowak said Monday the motive remains under investigation. The statement drew the ire of the conservative and nationalist opposition, France 24 reported.

Prime Minister Donald Tusk said: "Until now in Poland we haven't had such drastic cases of terrorism...that's what we have to call this cruel attack on people's lives here in Krakow." Poland declared two days of national mourning. EU flags went to half-mast. Macron, Merz and Meloni sent messages of solidarity, as did UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham, who spoke of "senseless violence".

The Circus Doesn't Pause

The grief barely had time to settle before the schedule resumed. A Constitutional Tribunal meeting is due Tuesday, the focal point of the fight between Tusk's government and its opponents over judicial appointments. Nationalist protesters have camped outside the court for weeks. Late last month riot police moved in to block access, and a judge newly appointed by the parliamentary majority said she was taking over, effectively suspending the incumbent, who is close to President Karol Nawrocki. After the shooting, Law and Justice called off protests for Monday and Tuesday, though they could resume later in the week.

Wednesday's Independence March is the real worry. It draws up to hundreds of thousands, from Catholic conservatives and white-supremacist fringe groups to antisemitic, pro-Russian far-right elements. Nawrocki says he'll attend. Tusk dismissed talk of a ban: "No one intends to ban the Independence March... Speculation on this matter is nothing but disinformation." He urged participants to "refrain from aggression" and warned against joining counter-demonstrations.

Political scientist Ewa Marciniak of Warsaw University said tragedies like Krakow "only serve to sharpen political divisions," and with parliamentary elections scheduled for autumn 2027, about one year away, such events are likely to be used "to deepen conflicts" and "draw the public into them." Writer Boguslaw Chrabota warned of a polarisation that "gives rise to Polish Breiviks."

What People Did Instead

On Sunday night, mourners laid candles and flowers beside bullet holes in the square. "I come here so as not to get caught up in a spiral of fear and anxiety," resident Maciej Sikorski told The Associated Press. "In a situation like this, it's all too easy to stop living — to start being afraid instead, and just vegetate." The square reopened Sunday evening. Nobody asked the government's permission to bring the flowers.