Prosecutors launcher terror investigation as Poland reels from fatal shootings

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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.

Polish prosecutors have announced the opening of a terrorism investigation following Saturday’s attack in the city of Kraków, where a man opened fire from his vehicle, killing six people. Later, three further bodies – believed to be the perpetrator’s parents and sister – were found in his home.

Further details have also emerged regarding the victims of the attack, the heroic actions of police and medical personnel, as well as the attacker himself – though the motive for his actions remains unknown.

On Saturday, the suspected attacker, who has been named only as 24-year-old Michał O. under Polish privacy law, drove through the historic city centre of Kraków, Poland’s second-largest city, including its famous market square, which was packed with tourists and locals.

He fired at random from the car, killing six people. Three of those victims have been identified as Polish women, aged 47, 53 and 61. Another was a 32-year-old British man. The final two victims were a foreign woman aged 51, whose nationality has not yet been announced, and a Polish man in his 50s.

A further 16 people were injured in the attack, 11 of them Polish, the others from the UK, Portugal, Russia, Germany and Austria. Among the injured were two police officers who had pursued the attacker and engaged in a firefight with him.

Both officers and Michał O. were hospitalised with what have been described as critical injuries. Due to his ongoing medical treatment, law-enforcement authorities have not yet been able to formally take the suspect into detention.

However, on Sunday morning, the National Prosecutor’s Office announced that it has launched a formal investigation into the killing of six people in Krkaów and the attempted murder of numerous others. The actions are being treated as a terrorist offence.

Meanwhile, they are also investigating the killing by gunshot of three people in the town of Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski, also on Saturday. That is Michał O.’s hometown, and on Saturday evening Prime Minister Donald Tusk revealed that three bodies had been found at the address where he lived.

Prosecutors say that “the evidence indicates that the same person committed the acts” in both Kraków and Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski.

Previously, on Saturday evening, interior minister Marcin Kierwiński announced that initial findings indicate the suspect had “very radical far-right views”. However, he cautioned that investigators were still seeking to confirm this, as well as to understand the possible motive behind the attack.

Gun crime is exceedingly rare in Poland, which has one of the lowest levels of gun ownership in Europe. Saturday’s events were the first time that the country has experienced a mass public shooting of this type.

Tusk announced that the country would enter two days of official public mourning, with the decree confirming this later signed by President Karol Nawrocki.

Meanwhile, political leaders have praised the heroic actions of police, especially the two officers, Jakub Kulik and Artur Morański, who were critically injured while bringing Michał O’s rampage to an end.

“They are heroes,” said Krzysztof Klęczar, governor of the Małopolska province in which Kraków is located. “Considering how many weapons were still in the perpetrator’s car, if it weren’t for the effective and selfless intervention of these two young men, the number of victims could have been significantly higher.”

It has also emerged that the police officers were treated by two leading surgeons who, by complete chance, had been eating dinner with their families at a restaurant near where the final shootout took place.

One of them, Michał Pędziwiatr, a professor of surgery at the Jagiellonian University, told the media that he and fellow surgeon Mateusz Wierdak had seen the police subduing the attacker. While their families took shelter, the two doctors rushed to the scene once the shooting had finished.

“Mateusz’s dedication in stopping the bleeding of the most injured police officer [Kulik] undoubtedly saved his life,” Pędziwiatr told the Fakt newspaper. Pędziwiatr himself called a local hospital that he knew would be best equipped to treat the officer so that they could prepare for his arrival.

Public authorities in Poland, including the police and military, launched a drive for blood donations to help in the treatment of the Kulik, who remains in critical condition. They said they had been overwhelmed by the number of people coming forward.

The defence minister, Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz, also revealed that Kulik is a former soldier from the elite 6th Airborne Brigade, which is headquartered in Kraków. “The entire military community is proud of Jakub. We will support him and his loved ones,” wrote Kosiniak-Kamysz.

A public fundraiser launched by Krzysztof Stanowski, a prominent media personality, has, at the time of writing, raised over 3.5 million zloty (€777,000) to support the police officers and their families.

On Sunday morning, Klęczar also confirmed that Michał O. had “undergone several surgeries during the night” and “remained in critical condition”.

The authorities have confirmed that Michał O. holds a firearms licence. During the incident on Saturday, he appears to have used an AR-15-style rifle, but police also found a number of other firearms in his vehicle.

On Sunday morning, a shooting club in the town of Starachowice that media reports suggested had been used by Michał O. and his father issued a statement saying that the suspect “has never been trained in dynamic, tactical or combat shooting in our club”.

They added that the club is fully cooperating with the authorities to provide any necessary and relevant information for the investigation.

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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

Daniel Tilles

Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland. He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including Foreign Policy, POLITICO Europe, EUobserver and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.