The 24-year-old gunman responsible for the Krakow mass shooting, which left six people dead and 15 wounded, has died in hospital after being shot by police during the attack.
The man, who had been in a critical condition and undergone several operations, died on Monday morning, police said. The shooting took place on Saturday in Krakow’s Main Square, a major tourist hub in the heart of the city’s Old Town.
Poland began two days of national mourning on Sunday, while prosecutors opened a murder and attempted murder investigation involving numerous people, including police officers. They said the act constituted a terrorist offence.
Defence Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz described the shooting as an “act of terror”. Interior Minister Marcin Kierwiński said the suspect held “very radical” and “ultranationalistic” views and appeared to have been fascinated by far-right ideologies.
The victims were four women and two men. Three of the women and one of the men were Polish, according to Krzysztof Jan Klęczar, the governor of the Malopolska region. A British man and a woman from an unidentified foreign country were also killed.
Two police officers who confronted the gunman remain in hospital. One is still in a coma, while the other has regained consciousness, Mr Klęczar said. An appeal was made for blood donations for the more seriously injured officer.
“If it weren’t for the efficient and selfless intervention of these two young men, the number of victims could have been significantly higher,” Mr Klęczar said.
Authorities said the suspect’s father legally owned more than 10 guns and that the attacker also possessed firearms. Seven weapons were seized from the family home in Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski, around 93 miles north-east of Krakow, taking the total number recovered to 11, including four found with the man or in his car.
The bodies of the suspect’s sister, mother and father were also found at the family property. Authorities said they likely died from gunshot wounds.
Krakow mourns shooting victims
Part of the Main Square remained closed on Sunday as investigators continued their work. Candles were placed at the scene, and the European flags outside the European Commission headquarters in Brussels were flown at half-mast.
The traditional five-note trumpet call played hourly from the highest tower of St Mary’s Basilica was stopped overnight in tribute to the victims. It was reportedly the first time the call had been missed since the Second World War.
“I’m absolutely devastated,” Weronika Filar, a 27-year-old Krakow resident, told reporters. “It’s one of the safest places on Earth genuinely … I did not expect anything like this to happen to us.”
She added: “Our city will never be the same.”
Krzysztof Stepien, a 28-year-old part-time city guide, said the attack was unprecedented in the city. “Nothing like this has ever happened here, and I hope it never will again,” he said.
Marylin Green, an American tourist visiting Poland for the first time, said she was mourning the victims in the “beautiful city”. She added that she was Polish, with parents from the country, and had been looking forward to visiting Krakow after travelling to Warsaw.
Mass shootings are uncommon in Poland. In mid-October, however, three attacks at schools in the central Mazovia region took place within four days, killing one person and injuring many others, including children. The attackers used knives or other sharp objects.
Kacper Rekawek, a senior researcher at the International Centre for Counter-Terrorism in The Hague, said the Krakow suspect’s military clothing, weapons and appearance resembled those of other extreme-right lone actors involved in attacks across Europe.
“We have had attempts before, but now we can say that these kinds of attacks have become successful in Poland,” he said.
