Six people died on Krakow's Main Market Square; police later found the attacker's parents and sister dead at the family home.

Published 10 Nov 2026, 07:28 GMT

2 min read

Police officers on Krakow's Main Market Square after the shooting — Police on Krakow's Main Market Square

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Poland says the 24-year-old man who shot dead six people on Krakow's Main Market Square on Saturday was "fascinated by far-right ideologies".

Interior Minister Marcin Kierwiński told a news conference on Sunday that the attacker held "very radical" and "ultranationalistic" views.

Four women and two men were killed. At least three of the women were Polish, and one of the dead was a British citizen.

Fifteen other people were wounded. Five of them are foreign nationals, from the UK, Portugal, Russia, Germany and Austria.

Officers wounded

Two police officers who stopped the gunman were hurt in an exchange of fire and remain in hospital. One is in a critical condition, and officials have appealed for blood donations.

The officers shot and wounded the attacker, who wore military-style clothing and carried a semi-automatic rifle, and detained him at the junction of Dietla and Stradom streets. More guns and ammunition were found in his car.

Police later found the bodies of his father, mother and sister at the family home in Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski, about 150 kilometres north-east of Krakow. They said the three most likely died of gunshot wounds.

Authorities have not released the attacker's name. They first gave his age as 24, then 25, before confirming on Sunday that he is 24.

'Terrorism'

Prime Minister Donald Tusk called the shooting an act of terrorism.

"Until now in Poland, we haven't had such drastic cases of terrorism," he told reporters in Krakow.

President Karol Nawrocki declared Sunday and Monday days of national mourning, and Krakow cancelled events run by the city.

It was Poland's deadliest shooting since the fall of communism in 1989. Mass shootings are rare in the country, where about 411,000 people hold gun permits.

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Krakow shooting: Gunman was &#39;fascinated by far-right ideologies&#39;, says Poland

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Krakow shooting: Gunman was 'fascinated by far-right ideologies', says Poland