Emergency responders gather after a shooting at the main market square in Krakow, Poland, on November 7, 2026. Initial reports in Polish media said at least five people were killed and many more injured in the incident.
Omar Marquez | Getty Images News | Getty Images
A Polish man with far-right views drove into Krakow’s busy central square on Saturday and opened fire, killing six people and wounding 15 others before police shot him dead, authorities said.
The attack, described by Poland’s defense minister as a “terrorist act”, occurred on the main square in the heart of Krakow’s Old Town, a major tourist hub in the country’s second city.
Authorities said the 25-year-old attacker drove to multiple locations in the square and opened fire with an automatic weapon each time he stopped. Authorities did not release his name, but Interior Minister Marcin Kielwiński said the man had “very radical” and “ultranationalist” views.
“Everything points to his fascination with far-right ideology,” Kierwinski said at a news conference.
Hours after the attack, Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced that authorities had found the bodies of three of the suspect’s relatives, two women and one man, inside a home in Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski, a city about 150 kilometers northeast of Krakow.
“The next act of this tragedy awaits,” Tusk told reporters.
Four women and two men were killed in the Krakow attack. At least three of the women were Polish and one of the dead was a British national, authorities said at a press conference. Police are continuing to identify the remaining two people who died.
Authorities said a total of 13 people were hospitalized in serious condition, but that number may include the gunman who underwent surgery after the attack.
It is unclear how many of the injured were shot. Two of the men were treated and released within hours of the shooting. Two police officers were among the injured, one seriously, Kierwinski said. Police commander Marek Boron said five non-Poles were also injured in the attack.
People were injured in multiple locations
Krakow police spokeswoman Katarzyna Sisło said the attacker wore military fatigues and a bulletproof vest and used a military-style long gun. Police found numerous other weapons and ammunition in his car. He reportedly continued firing at police even after he himself was shot.
Siswo said the gunman went on a “wild ride” around the main square, causing injuries in several places.
Siswo added that the shooter acted alone and the public was safe.
Krakow’s mayor, Łukasz Gibawa, said the city would be in official mourning until Wednesday. He vowed that despite the tragedy, Krakow would continue to welcome tourists.
“The plaza will be ours again,” Hibawa said in a video posted to X.
Mass shootings are rare in Poland.
Video posted by witnesses on social media showed people fleeing the square and taking shelter in small nearby streets, and emergency workers trying to revive the victims. One video shows a police officer repeatedly shooting an assailant lying on the street before slowly falling to the ground.
Photos showed a Polish medical air rescue helicopter landing in the square.
Emergency responders gather after a shooting at the main market square in Krakow, Poland, on November 7, 2026. Initial reports in Polish media said at least five people were killed and many more injured in the incident.
Omar Marquez | Getty Images News | Getty Images
It was not immediately clear whether the guns used in Saturday’s attack, or those found in the gunman’s car, were legal. Approximately 411,000 people in Poland, which has a population of 37 million people, hold a gun license, and interest in gun ownership is increasing.
Mass shootings are rare in Poland. However, in mid-October, three attacks occurred in four days at schools in central Mazovia, leaving one person dead and many others, including children, injured.
In a post on X, Tusk praised the police officers who responded to Saturday’s tragedy. President Karol Nawloki said his thoughts were with the victims, the injured and their families.
According to the Krakow Municipal Transport Company, a tram driver reported being shot at by a man in a moving car around 3 p.m. while passing near the main square. The window in the tram driver’s cabin was broken.
According to animal rights group OTOZ Animals, the gunman also shot and killed two horses. Both are alive, but one was grazed by a bullet and the other was wounded in the leg. The horse-drawn white carriages are the square’s main tourist attraction.
Warsaw Mayor Rafał Trzaskowski has announced increased security measures, including road fencing, along the main streets of the Polish capital’s old town following the Krakow attack.
