Gunman 'fascinated by far-right' kills six in Krakow, Poland

Gunman 'fascinated by far-right' kills six in Krakow, Poland Estelle.Bronkhorst Sun, 11/08/2026 - 06:00

KRAKOW - Six people were killed and at least 15 wounded on Saturday when a gunman opened fire in the landmark historic centre of Poland's second city of Krakow, in the country's deadliest shooting in decades.

Three bodies -- of two women and a man -- were later found at the suspect's home, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said, adding there was "much to suggest that they are members of the (suspect's) immediate family".

Tusk also announced Poland would hold two days of mourning over the shooting that he called an act of "terrorism".

Polish Interior Minister Marcin Kierwinski said the gunman appeared to be "fascinated by far-right ideologies".

AFP | Wojtek RADWANSKI

A British national was among the killed, according to Polish police chief, Marek Boron, and five foreigners were among the wounded in hospital, the authorities said.

"Two people who have not yet been identified," Boron said referring to the victims killed.

Britain's Prime Minister Andy Burnham said he was "shocked and saddened by the appalling shooting".

"My thoughts are with the families of those who have lost their lives, everyone injured and all those affected by this senseless violence," he wrote on X.

The suspect -- a Polish citizen born in 2002 -- drove a car onto Krakow's Main Market Square and began shooting at random people, said police.

Two officers were wounded as they tried to stop the man, the police said, before shooting the suspect who was later detained and taken to a hospital.

AFP | Wojtek RADWANSKI

An AFP reporter at the scene saw ambulances and multiple police cars as personnel cordoned off the area -- one of Poland's landmark tourist hotspots popular with locals and foreign visitors.

"Everything suggests that the perpetrator held very, very radical views. A number of weapons were found in the car he was driving," Kierwinski said.

"Everything suggests that he was fascinated by far-right ideologies" and held "ultra-nationalist views," he added.

The man was wearing military-style clothing at the time of the attack, said Kierwinski.

- Tusk praises 'heroic' police -

Andrzej Fijolek, spokesman for the chief of police, said the attacker had used a semi-automatic rifle similar to the American AR-15.

AFP | Wojtek RADWANSKI

The authorities have not yet disclosed the nationalities of all the victims of the attack, Poland's deadliest shooting since the fall of communism in 1989.

"Our highest praise goes to the heroic police officers who risked their lives in the line of duty," Tusk said.

On Saturday evening, AFP reporters saw the usually bustling Main Market Square sealed off, with heavily armed police and forensic investigators inspecting the site of the attack.

Witnesses told AFP they saw people take refuge in shops and restaurants in the surrounding streets.

AFP | Bartosz SIEDLIK

"I saw a man shooting at people and walking around the square," Annette, a woman in her sixties, told AFP.

"It's a tragedy for Krakow, we've never seen anything like this before," she added.

"I saw one person who was dead... and several others lying a bit farther away, whom people were still trying to resuscitate. They were taking off their clothes, trying to stem the blood with those clothes," said musician Daniel Wolny, 32.

"It's very frightening to think that there are still risks in Europe -- risks of a terrorist nature," Stella, a 22-year-old tourist from Rennes, northwest France, told AFP.

"Krakow has always been an extremely safe city... this is probably the first situation of this kind we can remember in our lifetime," said 33-year-old Gabriel Bogdan, an employee at a bar near the square.

Deadly shootings are extremely rare in Poland, a European Union and NATO member of 38 million people.

But the country has been on high alert following a series of stabbings in October, which Tusk denounced as a "cult of violence".

Warsaw, a staunch ally of Ukraine since Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022, has repeatedly warned of Russian sabotage and hybrid warfare on Polish soil, accusations rejected by Moscow.

• AFP