Kraków shooting that killed 6 was motivated by far-right views, authorities say

World leaders have paid tribute as Poland declared two national days of mourning after a shooter motivated by far-right ideologies killed six people in Kraków on Saturday, in what the country’s defense minister characterized as a “terror attack.” The gunman, described by officials as having “ultranationalistic” beliefs, is reported to have opened fire in Kraków’s main market square. Four women and two men were killed in the midday attack, the country’s deadliest shooting in decades, while a policeman who confronted the gunman is in critical condition. The suspect is being investigated on suspicion of murder in connection with the six deaths, Polish Justice Minister Waldemar Żurek said on X Sunday, adding that he “acted with the aim of seriously intimidating a large number of people, making this a terrorist offence.” The same suspect is facing a separate murder charge over killings in Ostrowiec Świętokrzyskie, Żurek said, a town some 93 miles northeast of Kraków where three of the man’s relatives were found dead in his home. “Establishing all the circumstances of these tragic events, determining the full sequence of the perpetrator’s actions and securing evidence are currently the priorities of the investigation,” which is being led by terror offence specialists within the prosecutor’s office, he said. Interior Minister Marcin Kierwiński did not name the suspect but identified him as a Polish national in his mid-20s from Ostrowiec Świętokrzyskie. He used an automatic rifle, Kierwiński said Saturday, describing him as having “ultranationalistic” views. “Everything indicates he was fascinated by far-right ideologies,” he said. The suspect was shot by police at the scene and taken to the hospital around 3 p.m. local time. He remains in critical condition, regional governor Krzysztof Klęczar told a news conference Sunday. A man and two women later found dead in an apartment are believed to be the suspect’s parents and sister, according to Andrzej Fijołek, deputy inspector of Police National Headquarters. Two national days of mourning on November 8 and 9 were announced by the Interior Ministry on Sunday. Żurek, the justice minister, said on social media early on Sunday that Senior Constable Jakub Kulik “is fighting for his life in hospital” after he confronted the shooter. “One of his lungs is not functioning, and he needs every drop of blood he can get,” he posted on X. Police later said that blood banks in Kraków were full and thanked those who donated. “Senior constable Jakub Kulik and senior constable Artur Moranski are true heroes,” said Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said, referring to both policemen. Klęczar said that without “the efficient and selfless intervention” of the officers, “the number of victims could have been significantly higher.” “The condition of the two police officers remains serious,” Klęczar said Sunday, though Kierwiński later said the two men had been brought out of comas. Video posted on social media shows what appears to be an injured police officer firing at the gunman before dropping to his knees and rolling over onto his back. The officer, who did not appear to have backup nearby, is seen struggling to reload his firearm and appeared to be clutching his right arm. Four of the dead in the city center attack have been identified, though their names have not been released. They include four Polish nationals, a British national, and one non-Polish woman whose nationality has not yet been publicized, Klęczar said. All those wounded were alive on Sunday, he said, adding that 11 of the 16 injured people are Polish and two of the individuals are police officers. British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband said the U.K. government “deeply mourns the British national and other victims” who died in the shooting. “The U.K. stands resolutely in solidarity with the people of Poland,” he said. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also said Saturday that his country “stands in solidarity” with neighboring Poland, calling the shooting a “shocking crime.” The U.S. State Department said it was not aware of any American citizens harmed in the violence. “The profound depth of Poland’s shock at the horror of yesterday’s appalling mass murder in Krakow is truly remarkable to behold,” U.S. Ambassador to Poland Tom Rose said in a post on X. Noting how rare the incident was in a “extraordinarily safe” country like Poland, he added: “There’s something profoundly precious about being in a country where such evil remains so foreign to everyday life, where an entire nation recoils in horror at the mere thought of it, and where the depth of grief reveals the true goodness of its people.” Part of Main Market Square in Kraków and surrounding streets reopened Sunday, but cordons remain in place while police carry out forensic work, the city has said in a statement. Several makeshift memorials with flowers and candles appeared across the city on Sunday. Tourists caught up in attack Many of those caught up in the attack were tourists visiting the city. Taylor Dorfmeister, a 21-year-old American student studying in Italy who was visiting Poland, was in the square with his roommate when gunfire erupted. Dorfmeister said there was a delay before the crowd reacted and then everyone began to flee the area. He said he took shelter in a building. “We ran up the stairs in the building to hide and it was a dead end, which is when I was the most terrified since the gunshots were [loud] and near,” Dorfmeister told NBC News. It sounded to Dorfmeister like the gunfire was coming from the first floor of the building where he hid. The student from Santa Cruz, California, was “fully prepared for the worst” based on the proximity of the noise, he said. “This is it,” Dorfmeister thought. “Like, there’s nowhere to go, nowhere to hide.” Marie-Ange Collaer was visiting with her family from Brussels. “We literally ran for our lives and managed to hide from the bullets flying around,” she wrote on Facebook. “Lying on the floor in a shop like in a bad police movie whilst you hear bullets everywhere.” Collaer said her family was shaky and “quite in shock” after returning to their hotel but everyone was grateful to be alive. “We saw a few that did not make it, true horror,” she wrote. U.K. resident Neil Thaxton and his wife, Nicky, also survived the attack. “We had just walked through the main square and heard the gunshots,” Thaxton wrote on Facebook. “We thought it was fireworks then people started running, we went into a gift shop and the staff took us in the back of the shop and locked the doors and turned the lights off.”