A 24-year-old man drove onto Krakow’s Main Market Square and opened fire on Saturday, November 7, killing six people and injuring 16. The injured included police officers and the attacker, identified as Michał O. The shooting prompted a national mourning period, with Monday marking its second day.

Police officers Artur Morański and Jakub Kulik subdued the gunman and were hospitalized. By the time of a report published Monday, they had been brought out of medically induced comas. Police shot Michał O.; he underwent surgery and remained in critical condition before dying in a Krakow hospital early Monday.

Police found three people with gunshot wounds at the attacker’s family home in Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski on Saturday evening. Authorities identified them as his parents and sister. AgenSIR reported that authorities believed Michał O. had presumably killed them before the Krakow attack. The available accounts do not establish a motive or provide findings from the investigation.

A country marks the loss

Poland’s two-day national mourning began overnight from Saturday into Sunday, and November 9 was its second day. In Krakow, the mourning period was reported to continue until November 11. Flags on municipal buildings and municipal units were lowered or marked with black ribbons; mourning flags also appeared on city transport.

Prime Minister Donald Tusk described the shooting as an act of terrorism. On Sunday, a memorial Mass led by Krakow Archbishop Cardinal Grzegorz Ryś was held at St Anne’s Church. Pope Leo XIV’s message of condolence and prayer was read there; the service was not held at St Mary’s Basilica on the Main Market Square because police were still carrying out forensic work.

Bishops across Poland remembered the victims during Sunday services and urged worshippers not to give in to fear. In Zamość, officials cancelled an anniversary concert and a ticketed public rehearsal planned for Sunday. The city’s bugle call was played once, facing Krakow, and flags in its Great Market Square were lowered as a sign of mourning.

What comes next

Polish prosecutors planned to begin autopsies on Monday morning on the six people killed in Krakow and the three found dead in Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski. The results had not been reported in the accounts available Monday morning.

President Karol Nawrocki planned to honour the officers who stopped the attacker, while Krakow Mayor Łukasz Gibała had asked the city to award them honorary citizenship urgently, Niezalezna.pl reported.