Polish Prosecutors Open Terrorism Investigation After Mass Shooting in Kraków

WARSAW — Polish prosecutors have opened a formal terrorism investigation after a 24-year-old Polish national drove into Kraków’s main market square at top speed and opened fire at random, killing six people and injuring 17 others.

According to Kraków police spokesperson Katarzyna Cisło, the suspect was wearing military-style fatigues and a bulletproof vest during the Saturday afternoon attack. He was apprehended and hospitalized under heavy police guard following surgery after being wounded in an exchange of fire with police.

In addition to the market square shooting, police discovered three bodies at the gunman’s home in Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski, located about 100 miles north-east of Kraków. Investigators said the deceased were his 53-year-old father, 52-year-old mother, and 21-year-old sister, who had likely died of gunshot wounds.

Interior Minister Marcin Kierwiński stated that the suspect was fascinated with far-right ideologies and held very radical and ultra-nationalistic views. Authorities added that the attack was likely inspired by extremist ideologies, while Polish Defense Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz explicitly labeled the mass shooting an act of terror.

The attack claimed the lives of four women and two men, including a British citizen and three Polish women. Polish police reported that five of the 17 injured individuals are foreign nationals from Britain, Austria, Germany, Portugal, and Russia. Two police officers were also among the wounded, with one listed in serious condition.

Following the tragedy, a two-day period of national mourning began, with flags lowered to half-mast across the country and outside the European Commission headquarters in Brussels. Security has since been bolstered in Warsaw, while Kraków authorities temporarily closed the main square and surrounding escape route sections for several hours.

The incident has deepened national anxiety in Poland, which has traditionally been regarded as safer than many of its western European neighbors. Public concern had already risen following several school stabbings in October that left one woman dead, incidents that officials linked to extremist content online.

The national prosecutor’s office investigation into the killings and attempted murder as terrorist offenses will proceed as the suspect remains under guard.