Investigators are treating the deadly attack in Krakow as a terror incident, prosecutors said on Sunday, after at least six people were killed and 15 injured in a mass shooting authorities suspect was inspired by far-right ideology.
The gunman drove into the busy market square around 3pm on Saturday and began firing at random people from the moving car, the Małopolska police reported, adding that a suspect had been arrested.
Police have only identified the suspect, who remains in hospital in a critical condition, as a 24-year-old Polish national from Ostrowiec Swietokrzyski, who was arrested in tactical attire while carrying a military-style long rifle.
A British national was among the six people killed, police said. The five foreign nationals injured in the shooting came from Austria, Germany, Portugal, Russia and Britain, a spokesperson for the interior ministry said.
Prime minister Donald Tusk also said that the bodies of two women and one man had been found at the suspect’s home, which is just under 200km north of Krakow.
“There are strong indications that they are members of his immediate family,” Tusk told a crisis meeting.
Interior minister Marcin Kierwinski said their suspect held “very radical views” and “was fascinated by far-right ideologies”.
Polish media reported that the suspect’s 52-year-old father had 11 registered firearms and he owned the car, a black Subaru, that was used in Saturday’s attack.
Police found a military-style backpack, magazines and a bayonet in the boot of the car, Radio Kielce reported.
Defence minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz, however, said the suspect wasn’t a soldier and had no links to the military.
According to local media, neither the suspect nor his father had a criminal record. The Central Bureau for Combating Cybercrime was analysing the attacker’s online activity to see whether he belonged to radical groups.
The assailant is believed to have used an AR-15 rifle and wore military-like clothes at the time of the attack, according to police. They did not mention a motive for the shooting.
Polish defence minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz described it as an “act of terror”.
Police said they started to receive reports at around 3pm that an assailant had opened fire from a car and had shot randomly at people in the square in Poland's second-largest city, a popular tourist destination.
Unverified footage shared on social media showed people fleeing the scene as shots rang out and police sirens blared.
Other video showed two people lying on blood-spattered paving stones and bystanders trying to resuscitate them. A third person lay motionless on the ground nearby.
"I saw shots being fired from the driver's side window, and smoke was coming out. I ran to the police station in the main market square; when I burst inside, it was full of people hiding on the floor," a man who gave his name only as Konrad, and witnessed the shooting, told news website Interia.
A 67-year-old man called Julek told Reuters that he saw a dark car appear suddenly before the driver started shooting at a group of people and drove off.
"If we had been two minutes earlier, we might have been shot," he said.
After it emerged that a British citizen was among the dead, prime minister Andy Burnham paid tribute to the victims of the attack.
“I am shocked and saddened by the appalling shooting in Krakow today,” he said. “My thoughts are with the families of those who have lost their lives, everyone injured, and those affected by this senseless violence. The United Kingdom stands in solidarity with the people of Poland.”
The FCDO advised British nationals in Krakow to “follow the advice of local authorities and monitor local media”.
In a statement, foreign secretary Ed Miliband said the government “deeply mourns the British national and other victims who have died after the appalling attack in Krakow”.
“All of my deepest condolences go to the families of the victims. The UK stands resolutely in solidarity with the people of Poland,” he said.
Kierwinski, the Polish interior minister, praised the heroism of officers who apprehended the suspect.
"The police prevented a much larger massacre that could have otherwise occurred," he said. "They fired shots at the attacker just three minutes after receiving the report."
Mayor Łukasz Gibała said Krakow would observe an official mourning period until Wednesday, but vowed that the city would remain open to visitors despite the tragedy. “The square will belong to us again,” he said.
Expressions of shock and condolence flooded in from around Europe.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy called the shooting "shocking." "On behalf of the Ukrainian people, and personally, I extend my sincere condolences to the families and loved ones of the victims," he wrote on X.
European foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas called it "a tragedy that will be felt far beyond Poland."
Did you see what happened? Contact james.reynolds@independent.co.uk
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