Poland’s Justice Minister Waldemar Zurek says the gunman accused of killing six people in Krakow was fascinated by Norwegian neo-Nazi mass killer Anders Breivik and showed clear signs of far-right radicalisation.
KRAKOW: A gunman accused of killing six people in a Krakow square had a fascination with a notorious Norwegian neo-Nazi mass killer and showed other signs of far-right radicalisation, Poland’s justice minister said Tuesday.
The minister Waldemar Zurek said that Michal Oksinski prepared for his gun rampage on Saturday by buying about 10 magazines for a semi-automatic rifle and 500 bullets.
“It is clear that this individual was preparing to take action,” Zurek, who is also prosecutor general, told a press conference, a day after the 24-year-old Oksinski died in hospital from wounds suffered in a shootout with police.
Before he was stopped, Oksinski is accused of shooting dead six people — including an Austrian woman and a British man — and wounded 15 in Krakow’s Main Market Square. He is also suspected of killing his parents and a sister at the family home.
According to the minister, Oksinski had looked up information on Anders Breivik, a Norwegian far-right radical who set off a car bomb in Oslo on July 22, 2011 that killed eight people, before he shot dead 69 others at a young socialist gathering on the island of Utoya.
“Authorities have accessed the terrorist’s computer. It is clear that he visited websites concerning Anders Breivik,” said Zurek.
Investigators also found in his possessions a Gadsden flag — an American Civil War-era flag featuring a rattlesnake on a yellow background that is often linked to the US far-right, the minister added.
Investigators are looking into Oksinski’s entourage for any signs of radicalisation and any potential mental health troubles, the minister said.
But Zurek told the press conference there was “very solid evidence” of Oksinski’s motives.
Interior Minister Marcin Kierwinski said just after the shooting that the gunman appeared to be “fascinated by far-right ideologies”.
Tens of thousands of people, led by Poland’s prime minister and president, joined a silent march in Krakow on Monday evening in tribute to the victims of the mass shooting.
