Gun attack in Krakow: right-wing extremist kills at least 6 people

A 24-year-old Pole shot six people dead in a terrorist attack in the Polish cultural metropolis of Krakow on Saturday. 16 injured people were taken to hospitals, including two police officers and the suspected attacker. Doctors had to operate on her immediately. Some were still in mortal danger on Sunday due to serious gunshot wounds.

Prime Minister Donald Tusk from the liberal-conservative Citizens Coalition (KO) arrived in Krakow on Sunday night. He praised the police officers' efforts. After the first report at around 3 p.m., they were at the crime scene just three minutes later and immediately gave chase.

The perpetrator first circled Krakow's main market and shot from the car into the crowd. Then he turned onto a street leading to Wawel, the old royal castle. He then sped down Stradomska Street. At the intersection with Dietla Street he collided with another car. He had to get out and was shot.

The assassin, who was already lying on the ground, continued to shoot and seriously injured two police officers. Blood donors are being sought for one of the two on Sunday.

Only 20 minutes passed from the start of the shooting to the arrest of the suspected assassin. In tram number 1, which the assassin had also shot at from the car, several windows were broken. But no one was injured there.

In the apartment of 24-year-old Michal O., the police found his parents and sister, also dead. The police first evacuated the entire house in Ostrowiec Swietokrzyski, around 180 kilometers north of Krakow. The officers found additional weapons and large amounts of ammunition in the assassin's car. It was therefore suspected that there could be more weapons and possibly bombs in his apartment.

It is still unclear whether the family knew about the attack plans and possibly tried to stop the 24-year-old from doing so. His father Janusz O. had a firearms license and eleven registered rifles and pistols. The perpetrator himself also had a sporting weapons permit and had two rifles. However, the origin of the murder weapon is still unknown.

Little is known about the terror victims. A British citizen is among the dead. Among the injured are a German, another Briton, an Austrian, a Portuguese and a Russian. According to current investigations, all other injured people are Polish citizens.

The motive of the alleged attacker is also still unclear. Neighbors speak of a “quiet family”. The son is said to have been behaving “strangely” lately. The “actually cheerful and mostly good-tempered boy” was seen several times on the street wearing a face mask, residents told the Echo Dnia newspaper.

Michal O., who was injured in the exchange of fire with the police, had to be put into a pharmacological coma on Sunday. Doctors describe his health as “very critical”. It will be decided in the next few days whether and, if so, when he can make a statement about his motive for the crime.

The police found evidence of Michal O's right-wing extremist views in the apartment. Details are not yet known. It is unclear, for example, whether the young Pole belonged to a particular right-wing extremist group or party, how he became radicalized and how long he spent preparing for the planned attack.

It is also unclear whether he had contact with Russian services. They repeatedly commit acts of sabotage in Poland and recruit assassins. A connection to the sometimes fatal stabbings at Polish schools a few weeks ago is rather ruled out. But they could have inspired the Krakow attacker. This is also being checked.

Tusk condoled the victims' families, wished all those injured a speedy recovery and ordered two days of national mourning. In Kraków itself there is an official mourning period until Polish Independence Day on November 11, 2026.

On this day, a large police presence will ensure security in Warsaw. Tens of thousands of violent nationalists and right-wing extremists from all over Poland march there almost every year. There will also be more police officers on duty in Krakow than usual. Because, as with the young stabbers in Poland's schools, imitators and further acts of terrorism must be expected.

In the morning magazine of the private radio station TokFM, Anna Mierzynska, Poland's best-known internet security analyst, warned of mass amounts of fake news being sent from Russia. Accordingly, the attack in Krakow was allegedly a “provocation by Ukrainian fascists” or “Ukrainian Banderists”. The leader of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) was Stepan Bandera. During the war years 1943 to 1945, UPA fighters committed war crimes and murdered an estimated 100,000 ethnic Poles.

Since the Russian attack on Ukraine, Russian propaganda has flooded the Polish Internet with millions of fake news stories about alleged fascist criminals in Ukraine. Many Poles believe this, so the mood towards Ukrainians has changed: from great willingness to help in 2022 to strong rejection and even violent attacks. Even now, many Polish Internet users continue to spread the Russian conspiracy theories about the “Ukrainian provocation,” even though it was clear from the start that the suspected attacker was a young Pole.

Mierzynska also warns against manipulated photos and videos on the Internet. The days when images actually depicted reality were a thing of the past. According to her, images that trigger strong feelings should not be distributed immediately. Instead, one should check their credibility, said the expert.

Credible sources are neither “the Internet” in general nor well-known “influencers”, but rather the websites of the Polish government, the police, reputable newspapers and research portals. Mierzynska expressly warns against the websites of right-wing national and right-wing extremist groups. Russian services often hid behind them.