Polish authorities blame Krakow attack on ‘far-right ideologies’

Poland began two days of national mourning on Sunday, after a 24-year-old man with far-right views drove into a busy central square in Krakow and opened fire, killing six people and wounding 15 others before police shot and wounded him.

The attack, which Poland’s defense minister described as an “act of terror,” happened on Saturday in Main Square, in the heart of Krakow’s Old Town. It is a major tourist hub in the country’s second-largest city.

By Saturday evening, mourners had left candles in memory of the victims. The square remained partially closed on Sunday morning as authorities continued their investigation.

St. Mary’s Trumpet Call, a traditional five-note melody played every hour from the highest tower of St. Mary’s Basilica on the Main Square, was paused overnight in tribute to the victims. It was the first time the call had been missed since World War II.

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Authorities also found the bodies of the assailant’s sister, mother and father at the man’s family home in Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski, a city about 150 kilometers (93 miles) northeast of Krakow. They likely died from gunshot wounds.

Marie-Ange Collaer wrote on Facebook that she and her family survived the shooting during a trip to Krakow from Brussels.

“We literally ran for our lives and managed to hide from the bullets flying around,” she wrote. “Lying on the floor in a shop like in a bad police movie whilst you hear bullets everywhere.”

U.K. resident Neil Thaxton and his wife also lived through the attack.

“We had just walked through the main square and heard the gunshots,” Thaxton wrote on Facebook. “We thought it was fireworks then people started running, we went into a gift shop and the staff took us in the back of the shop and locked the doors and turned the lights off.”

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Alexandros Maronitis, a tourist from Greece, told The Associated Press that he couldn’t get back to his lodgings for five hours after the tragedy.

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“We saw the shooter when they picked him up with the ambulance,” Maronitis said. “So, we’re a bit afraid. It’s our first time in Poland. We heard it’s a safe country.”

American tourist Marylin Green mourned the losses in the “beautiful city” during her first trip to Poland that also included the capital.

“I’m Polish, my parents were from here,” she said. “I loved Warsaw. So I was really looking forward to coming here, too.”

Witness Andy Hill told the BBC that he’d felt like he was in a movie scene.

“It doesn’t feel real,” the British tourist said. “And the trouble is, you have such an instantaneous moment to make a decision: Run. Stand still. There’s an element of shock. But I just thought the easiest thing to do is dive through a doorway and just take refuge behind the windows.”

Prosecutors said Sunday they opened an investigation into the murder and attempted murder of numerous people, including police officers, with the act “constituting a terrorist offense.”

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Four women and two men were killed in the Main Square shooting. Three of the women and one of the men were Polish, Krzysztof Jan Klęczar, the Malopolska regional governor, said on Sunday. A man from the U.K. and a woman from an unidentified foreign country were also among the dead.

A video posted on social media showed a police officer repeatedly shooting the attacker, who was lying on the street. The officer later slowly collapsed to the ground.

The two police officers who stopped the gunman, in actions authorities hailed as heroic, remain in the hospital. They were both conscious by Sunday afternoon.

“If it weren’t for the efficient and selfless intervention of these two young men, the number of victims could have been significantly higher,” Klęczar said.

Michał Pędziwiatr and Mateusz Wierdak, two local surgeons who were having a bite to eat nearby, also stepped in.

Wierdak “took care of the officer who subdued the attacker because he truly needed urgent help,” Pędziwiatr told Polish news website onet. “Without protection, without gloves, he simply focused on the officer, stopping the bleeding in his chest. This probably saved his life.”

Five foreigners are among the wounded. They come from the U.K., Portugal, Russia, Germany and Austria.

The suspect is also in critical condition after undergoing multiple surgeries. There was confusion on Saturday about his age, with authorities first saying 24 and later 25. On Sunday they confirmed that he is 24.

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Interior Minister Marcin Kierwiński said the suspect holds “very radical” and “ultranationalistic” views.

“Everything indicates that he was fascinated by far-right ideologies,” Kierwiński said at a news conference.

Local officials in Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski said they seized seven weapons from the family home, bringing the total number recovered to 11, including four found on the suspect or in his car in Krakow. Both father and son had gun permits, they said.

Around 411,000 people hold gun permits in Poland, which has a population of 37 million, and interest in gun ownership has been rising.

The Swit shooting club in Starachowice, where the suspect is believed to have trained, issued a statement on Sunday saying it offered only “static shooting,” which involves firing from a fixed position at a stationary target. The club added that the suspect “was never trained in our club in the areas of dynamic, tactical or combat shooting.”

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Mass shootings are uncommon in Poland. However, in mid-October three attacks at schools in the central province of Mazovia took place within four days, leaving one person dead and many wounded, including children. The young attackers used knives or other sharp objects. Officials blamed the school attacks on online “glorification of violence,” and said that some of the attackers were active in the far-right environment.

The Krakow shooter’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 Center for Counterterrorism in The Hague.

“We have had attempts before, but now we can say that these kinds of attacks have become successful in Poland,” he said.

–Ciobanu reported from Warsaw, Poland. Associated Press writer Stefanie Dazio in Berlin contributed to this report.