Kraków shooting suspect who killed six has died, say police in Poland

A gunman suspected of killing six people in Kraków has died in hospital, police in Poland said early on Monday.

The suspect had been wounded in a shootout with police and had been in critical condition in hospital.

“We would like to inform you that the perpetrator of the tragic events died in hospital early this morning,” Malopolska Policja wrote on X.

Polish prosecutors had opened a terrorism investigation after a 24-year-old man opened fire in a busy market square on Saturday afternoon, killing six including a Briton and injuring 17, in an attack that authorities said was probably inspired by far-right ideologies.

Karolina Galecka, an ⁠interior ministry spokeswoman, told radio TOK FM ​on ​Monday: “There ​were many different emblems on the perpetrator’s clothing that have been partially examined and interpreted.

“These patches were ​associated with various motifs that ​are currently ‌being analysed ​by ​specialists,” she added, declining to comment further as the investigation was ongoing.

Police confirmed on Sunday that three people found dead at the gunman’s home after the attack on Saturday afternoon were his father, 53, mother, 52, and sister, 21.

As two days of national mourning began, the national prosecutor’s office said on social media it had launched an investigation into “the killing of six people … using a firearm, and the attempted murder of many others, including police officers, this act constituting a terrorist offence”.

The rare mass shooting has shocked a country that was considered safer than many of its European neighbours, and has deepened concern after several school stabbings in October that left one woman dead and which officials said were linked to extremist content online.