Gunman with far-right views who killed 6 people in a Polish city square
dies in hospital, police say
[November 09, 2026]
By RAFAL NIEDZIELSKI, CLAUDIA CIOBANU and BEATA ZAWRZEL
KRAKOW, Poland (AP) — The 24-year-old with far-right views who killed
six people and wounded 15 others in a shooting in a Polish city square
died in the hospital Monday, police said.
The attacker, wearing military-style clothing and a bulletproof vest,
drove into the main square in Krakow’s Old Town on Saturday and opened
fire. The location is a major tourist destination in Poland’s
second-largest city, and several foreigners were among the dead and
wounded.
Police said the man — who has not yet been officially named — initially
continued firing even after he was wounded by police officers. He had
been in critical condition since the attack and had been operated on
multiple times.
He died at 4:30 a.m. in the hospital, authorities said.
“We are first of all investigating if he was inspired by anyone, if
someone helped him,” Eryk Stasielak from the Krakow branch of the
national prosecutor's office told the AP. “We have secured his
electronic devices and we will try to open them and get to the
contents.”
Stasielak said prosecutors were also trying to understand how the
attacker was able to come into possession of so many weapons and so much
ammunition. He said it was too early to comment on the ideology of the
man and several avenues were being investigated. Autopsies of the
victims were being conducted starting Monday, he said.
Four women and two men were killed in the shooting. Three of the women
and one of the men were Polish, authorities said. A man from the U.K.
and a woman from Austria were also among the dead.
Authorities said on Monday morning that all wounded were in stable
condition. The police officer who ultimately stopped the attacker
remains in a serious state.
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A couple embrace in the main square in Krakow, Poland, Sunday, Nov.
8, 2026, where several people were shot the day before. (AP Photo/Beata
Zawrzel)
Five foreigners are among the wounded. They come from the U.K.,
Portugal, Russia, Germany and Austria.
Authorities also found the bodies of the assailant’s sister, mother
and father at the man’s family home in Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski, a
city about 150 kilometers (93 miles) northeast of Krakow. They
likely died from gunshot wounds.
On Sunday night, mourners laid candles and flowers alongside the
bullet holes in Krakow after the city’s central square turned into a
site of bloodshed and grief.
“I come here so as not to get caught up in a spiral of fear and
anxiety,” resident Maciej Sikorski told The Associated Press from
the square. “In a situation like this, it’s all too easy to stop
living — to start being afraid instead, and just vegetate. That is
something I really want to avoid.”
Prosecutors said Sunday they opened an investigation into the murder
and attempted murder of numerous people, including police officers,
with the act “constituting a terrorist offense.”
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