Shooter who killed parents and sister before Krakow massacre motivated by far-right ideology

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POLAND has begun two days of national mourning following a gun massacre in central Krakow.

Six people were killed in the city centre on Saturday when a man drove his car into the main market square and began firing at people, seemingly at random.

Thirteen civilians were injured, as were two police officers when taking down the assailant, who was shot and also taken to hospital, where his condition is described as critical. Four of those killed in the square were Polish, one British and one Austrian.

Police confirmed today that the suspect’s parents and sister were found dead from gunshot wounds at his home. Neither he nor they have been named, though his age has been given as 24.

Witnesses, including many tourists in the famous city, described chaotic scenes as people ran for their lives and hid in shops or round corners. The two policemen who brought down the attacker were very seriously injured, with one emerging from a coma today but the other still unconscious. Officials appealed for blood donations to help the more seriously wounded officer.

Interior Minister Marcin Kierwinski said the attacker holds very radical and ultranationalistic views. Police are investigating the attack as a terrorist incident.

“Everything indicates that he was fascinated by far-right ideologies,” Mr Kierwinski said at a news conference. The shooter’s car apparently contained more weapons and ammunition.

Krzysztof Jan Kleczar, governor of the Malopolska region, in which Krakow lies, said the attacker and his father both owned guns legally. 

The Krakow attacker’s military gear, guns and overall look were similar to those of other “extreme-right lone actors” committing attacks around Europe, said Kacper Rekawek, a senior researcher at the International Centre for Counterterrorism in The Hague.

Krakow paused St Mary’s Trumpet Call — an hourly five-note melody played from the highest tower of St Mary’s Basilica on the square — overnight for the first time since World War II as a gesture of respect for the victims.

The attack comes just over a fortnight after a racist shooter killed one person and injured seven in the outer Paris suburbs of Trappes and La Verriere.

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