Six dead in Kraków market square shooting, three more bodies found at gunman's home

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A rescue helicopter and security personnel at the site of the shooting in Kraków’s main market square on Saturday afternoon. Photograph: Jakub Porzycki/Reuters theguardian.com

Emergency personnel work at the site of the vehicle used in a shooting near the main market square of Krakow, Poland, 7 November 2026. Photograph: Jakub Porzycki/Reuters theguardian.com

Five killed in Krakow market square shooting theguardian.com

Emergency personnel at the site of the shooting in Kraków. Photograph: Jakub Porzycki/Reuters theguardian.com

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Six people were killed and sixteen wounded when a gunman opened fire with an automatic weapon in Kraków's main market square on Saturday afternoon. Late on Saturday night, Prime Minister Donald Tusk said three more bodies — two women and one man, most likely members of the suspect's family — had been found at the home of the alleged attacker, a 25-year-old Polish citizen. Defence Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz called the shooting an act of terror, and Sunday and Monday were declared days of national mourning.

The attack began at about 3pm, when a tram driver passing near the square reported that a man in a moving car had fired at his vehicle and shattered the window of his cabin. The dead were four women and two men, according to Polish police: one a British citizen, three Polish women, and two still unidentified on Saturday night. The wounded included nationals of Britain, Austria, Germany, Portugal and Russia, according to a government spokesperson. Kraków, Poland's second-largest city, draws fifteen million visitors a year, most of them through the main square. Two police officers were among the injured; one was shot three times in an exchange of fire with the attacker and remained in serious condition.

While two of the dead were still unidentified, Interior Minister Marcin Kierwiński told a news conference that the suspect was fascinated with far-right ideologies and held what he called "very radical" and "ultra-nationalistic" views. Justice Minister Waldemar Żurek promised that the perpetrator would be "held fully accountable and severely punished". President Karol Nawrocki said he was "deeply concerned by reports of the tragic events", and government spokesperson Adam Szłapka wrote that the day had "shaken all of Poland". Tusk travelled to Kraków on Saturday evening.

Earlier this year, the number of legally owned firearms in Poland passed one million for the first time. The 50,700 permits issued in 2025 were a record, and the active permits now on the books stand at almost double the 2015 figure, according to police statistics cited by Euronews.