Victims include a British national
The six people killed in the Old Town were four women and two men. The 24-year-old attacker fired from a car at passersby and police before officers shot and detained him.
Polish police chief Marek Boroń and other officials said three of those killed were Polish and one was British, according to BBC News and AFP. The remaining two had not yet been identified. Poland's Interior Ministry said five of the injured were foreign nationals from Britain, Austria, Russia, Germany and Portugal.
The discovery of three more bodies during a search of the suspect's apartment brought the death toll to nine. Tusk announced the find late Saturday evening; the bodies were reportedly those of the suspect's parents and a sister.
AFP, in reporting published by The Straits Times, described the attack as Poland's deadliest shooting since the fall of communism in 1989.
Gunfire on the square and a crash during the escape
Investigators said the Polish-born suspect drove onto the main square around 3 p.m., firing indiscriminately with a semiautomatic AR-15-type rifle. He apparently was driving the car himself. The gunfire also pierced a tram's driver-side window.
Witnesses described people fleeing into stores. One man recounted a call from his wife, who works on the square: she told him someone was shooting and people were running for shelter.
PAP, citing a photographer, reported that the suspect collided with another car at an intersection while trying to escape. He got out of a black Subaru and fired at responding officers, who returned fire. That account said one officer was shot and three others were among the injured.
Authorities said officers wounded the suspect before taking him into custody. He was hospitalized and underwent surgery. Officials cited by Yahoo News Australia said armed officers shot him within three minutes of the attack's start, preventing further killings.
Police later located the car at the intersection of Dietla and Stradomska streets. Nearby residents were evacuated while officers checked it for explosives; none were found, police said, according to Yahoo News Australia.
Investigators examine the suspect's background
Authorities identified the suspect as Michal O., a tradesman from Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski, about 200 kilometers from Krakow, who was already known to police. His motive remained unclear. The Polish government described the shooting as an act of terror and said he had been fascinated by far-right ideologies.
Social media footage showed a wounded man in camouflage on the ground beside a rifle. A police spokeswoman told Gazeta Krakowska that the attacker wore military clothing, used a military-style weapon and had numerous weapons and ammunition in his car. Rejecting rumors of an accomplice, she said the only known attacker was in custody.
Defense Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz denied that the suspect had served in the military. Nashaniva reported his statement that the man "was not and is not a soldier of the Polish Army and never had anything to do with the army."
Separately, police figures cited by AFP in The Straits Times showed a sharp increase in firearms licenses in Poland. More than 50,000 new licenses were issued in 2025, taking the total to 411,000.
Officers praised as mourning is declared
Tusk named two injured officers as Senior Constable Jakub Kulik and Senior Constable Artur Morański. According to the BBC, he said they "saved many lives" and called them "true heroes". Yahoo News Australia reported that one officer had been shot three times while arresting the attacker and was in "very critical condition", according to a Polish government minister.
In a post on X, Tusk offered condolences to the victims' families and praised officers for risking their lives. He urged politicians across party lines not to exploit the tragedy and pledged to establish all the circumstances of the crime.
Tusk announced two days of national mourning. Krakow Mayor Łukasz Gibała also signed an order placing the city in mourning through Wednesday, November 11, 2026.
