Gunman kills six in historic centre of Poland's Krakow

KRAKÓW: Six people were killed and a dozen others wounded on Saturday (Nov 7) 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.

The man, a Polish citizen, drove a car onto Krakow's Main Market Square and began shooting at random people, said police. Officers shot a suspect who is now in custody, they added.

"The death toll now stands at six: four women and two men," the police said on X. A dozen others, including police officers, were wounded.

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

"The perpetrator was shot by police" and was transported to a hospital, regional police said on X.

The police added that the man was wearing military fatigues at the time of the attack and was armed with a long gun.

In his car, "police officers discovered other firearms and a large quantity of ammunition", Krakow police spokeswoman Katarzyna Cislo told private broadcaster TVN24.

The police did not say what the motive was or disclose the nationalities of the victims of the attack, which is Poland's deadliest shooting since the fall of communism in 1989.

Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who headed to Krakow following the attack, called it "a tragic shooting" and said the police were investigating all the circumstances.

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

Witnesses told AFP they saw people take refuge in shops and restaurants in the usually bustling streets around the Main Market Square.

"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.

"We were at Auschwitz today. And it was only when we got here that we realised what had happened," Stella, a 22-year-old tourist from Rennes, northwest France, told AFP, referring to the Nazi German Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp near Krakow.

"It's very frightening to think that there are still risks in Europe, risks of a terrorist nature," she told AFP.

'Dramatic events'

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.

Poland is also seeing a sharp rise in the number of firearms licences. In 2025, more than 50,000 new licences were issued, bringing the total to 411,000, according to police figures.

The historic city of Krakow in southern Poland was once the country's capital and attracts millions of tourists every year.

In 2025, it was visited by 16.2 million people, the city said.

"I am receiving dozens of messages from foreign ministers from all over the world offering their condolences," Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said on social media.

Poland's conservative-nationalist president Karol Nawrocki said on X he was awaiting "a full explanation of the circumstances surrounding these dramatic events".

"The safety of Poles is an absolute priority," he added.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy offered his condolences, saying that "Ukraine stands in solidarity with Poland and the Polish people. People have the right to safety."

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on X that "Germany stands shoulder to shoulder with Poland as a friend and partner during these difficult times."

The EU's top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, described the shooting as "a tragedy that will be felt far beyond Poland", adding: "My thoughts are with the victims and their families and the first responders."

US Ambassador to Poland Tom Rose, posting on X, said: "America stands with Poland at this dark hour as Poland stands with her beloved citizens of Krakow."