Six killed in terrorist shooting in Polish city of Kraków

Nov 7, 2026 | Featured, Law, Society

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Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and is published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.

This is a breaking news story and will be updated as more information becomes available.

Six people have been killed and many more injured after a man opened fire from a moving vehicle in the historic centre of Kraków, Poland’s second-largest city, today. Police have apprehended the perpetrator.

The interior minister says that the incident is being treated as a terrorist attack, and that preliminary indications suggest the perpetrator had “very radical far-right” views. Police later discovered three further dead bodies in the suspect’s home, who are believed to be his parents and sister.

At around 3 p.m. local time on Saturday, a man who had driven onto Kraków’s market square – a large public space filled with tourists and locals – “began firing at random people from his car”, said police.

They later confirmed that six people – four women and two men – have died and 15 were injured. Three of the deceased have been identified as Polish women, and one other as a British man. The two victims have not been identified at the time of writing.

The police also revealed that there is only one suspected perpetrator, that he is a Polish citizen, and that he has been detained and transported to hospital.

Footage from Republika, a TV station that had been present in the city centre to report from an anti-government protest that was taking place today, showed paramedics appearing to treat victims on the square.

The station also broadcast footage showing the car from which shots were fired driving through a street that leads away from the square. A police car can be seen behind it and the apparent sound of gunfire can be heard.

Further videos and photos shared on social media show the alleged perpetrator being apprehended by a police officer, with both men injured and requiring medical treatment.

The suspect is wearing a military-style uniform, including some kind of helmet and face covering, while what looks like an AR-15-style rifle can be seen on the ground alongside him.

A spokeswoman for provincial police headquarters in Kraków, Katarzyna Cisło, later confirmed to broadcaster TVN that police officers had fired at the suspect, who had returned fire. Two police officers were injured during the incident, with one undergoing surgery and described as being in critical condition.

A spokesman for national police headquarters, Andrzej Fijołek, told TVN that the suspect is a 24-year-old from Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski, a small town in southeastern Poland.

Fijołek revealed that the man has a firearms licence and had used an AR-15 rifle during the incident, which he fired randomly while driving the car. “I can confirm that his attire indicates he was well-prepared, well-armed and knew what he was doing,” he added.

Defence minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz announced that, contrary to some rumours on social media, the suspect is not and has never been a member of the Polish military.

On Saturday evening, interior minister Marcin Kierwiński confirmed that “we are dealing with a terrorist attack”. He praised “police officers’ swift response for preventing a much larger massacre”.

Kierwiński said that the perpetrator is currently in critical condition in hospital. He added that the information obtained so far suggests that the attacker had “very, very radical views” and “may have been fascinated by far-right ideologies”.However, the interior minister emphasised that investigations are still ongoing.

Subsequently, Prime Minister Donald Tusk revealed that three further bodies – of two women and one man – had been found at the suspect’s home. He said they were likely his close family members.

Gun violence in Poland is extremely rare, and this kind of mass shooting incident is unheard of. The country also has one of the lowest rates of gun ownership in Europe, though a record number of licences, 50,709, were issued last year.

Kraków is by far Poland’s biggest tourist destination, receiving over 16 million visitors last year. The historic city centre, which is a UNESCO-listed World Heritage Site, would have been filled with locals and tourists on a Saturday afternoon.

The market square itself, surrounded by historic townhouses, is the heart of the city’s life, filled with restaurants, cafes and bars, as well as St Mary’s Basilica, the famous Cloth Hall (Sukiennice), and the old town hall tower.

President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine, Poland’s eastern neighbour, expressed his condolences and declared that his country “stands in solidarity with Poland”. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz also sent messages of condolence.

The US ambassador to Poland, Thomas Rose, expressed his sorrow at the “savage and murderous attack” in Kraków and declared that “America stands with Poland at this dark hour”.

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Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.

Main image credit: Jakub Wlodek / Agencja Wyborcza.pl

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