Five people were killed and more than a dozen injured, including police officers, in a shooting on Kraków’s Main Market Square on Saturday. The police of the Lesser Poland (Małopolska) Voivodeship announced this, as reported by the BBC. The perpetrator was shot by police officers and taken to a hospital, according to a further police statement.
According to a police spokesperson speaking to the news agency Reuters, the first reports came in at around 15:00 local time: a car drove onto the square, from which shots were fired at randomly selected people. A spokesperson for the local fire service told the broadcaster Polsat News that the perpetrator had fired from a passing vehicle. The Kraków city administration wrote on X that shots had been fired on the Main Market Square, emergency services were on the scene, and a police operation was under way on Dietla Street. The city asked residents to avoid the area.
Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on X that he would be briefed on the situation by the interior minister. The police were investigating the background and “all circumstances” of the attack. No motive was initially given. Interior Minister Marcin Kierwiński set off for the scene of the crime, according to a spokesperson for the ministry.
Justice Minister Waldemar Żurek spoke of a “terrible tragedy” and asked the public to remain calm. The public prosecutor’s office, the police and all responsible services were already working at the scene to secure evidence and clarify the circumstances. Justice Minister Waldemar Żurek declared that the perpetrator would be “held fully accountable and severely punished”.
Poland’s President Karol Nawrocki said on X that he was “deeply concerned by reports of the tragic events” in Kraków; his thoughts were with the victims, the injured and their families. He was in contact with the responsible authorities and expected a full clarification of the circumstances. The head of the National Security Bureau was on his way to Kraków. “The security of Poles is an absolute priority!”
The US Ambassador to Poland, Tom Rose, wrote on X that details of the “horrific mass shooting” in Kraków were only just emerging, a “cruel and murderous attack that has shaken Poland’s peace”. Several innocent people had been killed on Saturday afternoon on the city’s historic central square. “America stands with Poland in this dark hour, just as Poland stands with its beloved citizens of Kraków,” Rose said.
Kraków is Poland’s second-largest city and lies around 250 kilometres from the capital, Warsaw.
