A gunman who killed at least six people in Saturday’s rampage in the Polish city of Krakow has died in hospital, police said Monday.
The country was horrified by the rare mass shooting in the southern city’s historic main square, prompting two days of nationwide mourning. Authorities said the attack was likely inspired by far-right ideology.
According to Polish public broadcaster TVP, a 24-year-old Polish suspect named Michał Okusiński was shot and wounded by police during the attack and was later taken to hospital. There he underwent multiple surgeries and was in critical condition.
The shooting, which authorities are investigating as a possible terrorist attack, caused shock and fear in European countries with extremely strict gun laws.
Krakow police said the gunman drove into the city’s main market square, popular with tourists and locals alike, and began firing indiscriminately from his vehicle, killing four women and two men. Sixteen people were injured, including two police officers.
Video captures gunshots from mass shooting scene in Krakow, Poland
Gunshots can be heard on social media videos in Krakow, Poland, where a man drives into a square and opens fire on random people, killing at least six people, Krakow police said in a post on X.
The alleged attacker was wearing military uniform and using a “military weapon,” police deputy inspector Katarzyna Sisło told Polish news outlet TVN24. More weapons and ammunition were found in his car. However, TVP said he had no ties to the Polish military.
The bodies of his sister, mother and father were later discovered at the suspect’s home in the town of Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski, about 190 miles northeast of Krakow. Poland’s public prosecutor’s office said on Sunday that it was “very likely” that the killings were carried out by the same person, but the investigation continues.
A spokesperson for the prosecutor’s office said 11 firearms were recovered from both scenes.
Little is known about the shooter, and a motive was not immediately clear. However, Interior Minister Marcin Kierwiński said the gunman was attracted to far-right ideology and had “very extremist ideas”.
An interior ministry spokesperson said on Monday that the emblem on his clothing was being examined by experts.
The man had held a firearms license since March and attended a shooting club with his father, state television said, adding that he was unknown to police before Saturday’s shooting.
Przemysław Nowak, a spokesman for Poland’s state prosecutor’s office, said the attackers fired at least dozens of shots during the deadly assault.
Poland, like other European Union countries, has strict rules on gun acquisition, with few people allowed to own military-style weapons or carry guns in public. In the country of more than 37 million people, about 411,000 people have gun permits, according to the Associated Press.
An off-duty surgeon who responded to the scene of the shooting to treat the attack victims, including police officers, said he had just finished eating lunch with his family when he heard “a sound that sounded like gunshots.”
“We were in the middle of the storm,” Michal Pejviatr said, when he and his friend, also a surgeon, began caring for the injured.
Pejviatr told a news conference on Sunday that his friend Mateusz Wierdak was a “hero” who saved the life of a police officer who subdued the gunman after “putting pressure on the bleeding wound without any protective clothing or gloves” and “stuffing gauze into his chest cavity,” according to Reuters.
The two injured police officers, who Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk praised for saving “many lives”, underwent surgery and remain hospitalized, police said.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
