Death confirmed after three operations
Prosecutors identified the attacker as Michał Oksiński, 24, of Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski in southeastern Poland. He opened fire from a moving car before police shot and arrested him within minutes.
Lesser Poland police announced his death on X. Regional Governor Krzysztof Kleczar said Oksiński had remained in critical condition since his admission to the hospital and had undergone at least three operations. A doctor pronounced him dead at about 4:30 a.m. on Monday, November 9, 2026.
After the attack, authorities found the bodies of Oksiński's father, mother and sister at a house in his hometown. Investigators believe he also shot them.
Victims mourned, injured officers remain hospitalized
Poland began two days of national mourning on Sunday, November 8. Among those killed in Krakow was Izabela Woźna, a 53-year-old painter and mother of four whose exhibition had opened in the city on Friday evening. The Krakow Academy of Fine Arts confirmed that Oksiński's sister, 21-year-old Magdalena Oksińska, had been a third-year student there.
The six people killed in the square included a British person and an Austrian woman. Earlier reports identified five injured people from Germany, Britain, Portugal, Austria and Russia.
Kleczar said Monday that the wounded were still receiving care at six Krakow hospitals. Nearly all were in stable condition, but one police officer who helped stop the gunman remained critically ill.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk identified the two officers who stopped the attacker as Jakub Kulik and Artur Morański, calling them "real heroes". Kulik kept firing after being shot. Police fired their first shot within three minutes of the initial report.
Media reports said one officer sustained one gunshot wound and the other three; TVN24 reported their ages as 24 and 27. The regional administration said both had been brought out of medically induced comas.
Investigators recover 11 firearms
Authorities recovered four firearms from Oksiński and his car in Krakow: two AR-15 rifles and two pistols. They also found about 500 rounds of ammunition. A prosecution spokesperson said the gunman had fired repeatedly and indiscriminately, leaving numerous cartridge cases at the scene.
Prosecutors said another seven weapons were found in the family home, bringing the number of firearms recovered across the two locations to 11. Both Oksiński and his father held gun permits. Justice Minister Waldemar Żurek said the government would review the requirements imposed on permit holders.
The weapons discoveries have not resolved the question of motive. Prosecutors said they had neither the information nor sufficiently reliable indications needed to reach a responsible assessment. They have described the attack as terrorist in character and will continue investigating its motive despite Oksiński's death.
Interior Minister Marcin Kierwiński had reported that Oksiński held radical views and was fascinated by far-right ideologies. Authorities have not established whether those views, or another motive, drove the killings.
A yellow Gadsden flag bearing a black snake and the words "Don't tread on me" hung on the wall of Oksiński's room, prosecutors said. National Prosecutor's Office spokesperson Przemysław Nowak said the flag has "various meanings related to freedom or rebellion" but is not widely known to be associated with any form of extremism.
Political dispute and copycat concerns
The government's suggestion of a possible far-right motive drew a sharp response from Law and Justice leader Jarosław Kaczyński, who called the claims a "blatant lie". Government officials appeared to pull back from that suggestion on Monday, with spokesperson Adam Szlapka urging restraint until the circumstances were fully clarified.
Interior Ministry spokesperson Karolina Gałecka said Monday that Poland's Central Bureau for Combating Cybercrime had detained five people over posts glorifying Oksiński's actions. The bureau and police were on high alert for possible copycat attacks, she said.
Mass shootings are uncommon in Poland. The country had also seen three school attacks within four days in the central province of Mazovia in mid-October 2026. Those attacks, carried out with knives or other sharp objects, left one person dead and many wounded, including children. Some of the attackers were said to have an interest in the far right. Tusk linked those incidents to online "glorification of violence" and "nihilistic violence".
Fundraiser and honors for those who helped
More than 11,000 donors have contributed over six million zloty, equivalent to almost 1.5 million euros, to a fundraiser for the injured officers and their families. Journalist Krzysztof Stanowski is listed as its organizer on a Polish fundraising platform.
Krakow Mayor Łukasz Gibała said the emergency responders involved would receive the city's "Honoris Gratia" award for service, according to the PAP news agency. Two surgeons who happened to be nearby, Professor Michał Pędziwiatr and Dr. Mateusz Wierdak, are also expected to be honored.
The surgeons told PAP they went straight to the wounded after hearing gunfire. Pędziwiatr said they were afraid but did not stop to think about it. Both also credited the many doctors and other medical staff members who immediately returned to their hospitals to help.
