Five people were killed and at least 12 injured after a gunman opened fire from a car in Kraków’s Main Market Square on Saturday, Polish authorities said. The shooting began at around 3 p.m. local time after the man drove onto the square and began firing at people at random from his vehicle, according to police. The identities of the victims were not immediately available.
Some of those who were wounded in the attack were police officers. Police shot and wounded the attacker during a confrontation before detaining him and transporting him to a hospital where he currently remains. Authorities had not publicly identified the suspect or announced a possible motive, and have not publicly established if the shooting was an act of terrorism.
Images show emergency services, including police, ambulances and firefighters, responding to and securing the scene in the historic square. An air ambulance was also deployed, officials said. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said he was being kept updated by the country's interior minister following what he described as a "tragic shooting." "I am being kept informed by the Minister of the Interior about the situation in Krakow following the tragic shooting," he wrote in an X post.
"The police are investigating the background and all the circumstances of the attack." Newsweek reached out to the Małopolska Police by email Saturday for more information. The attack unfolded in Kraków's Main Market Square, or Rynek Główny, in the heart of the southern Polish city's historic center. Kraków is Poland's second-largest city and is located about 155 miles from the capital, Warsaw.
Authorities urged residents and visitors to stay away from the area while police and emergency personnel worked at the scene. Fire department spokesperson Hubert Cieply said two police officers were among those injured, according to The Independent. Investigators are working to establish what led to the shooting.
Tusk said authorities were examining both the background and "all the circumstances" surrounding the attack, leaving the motive one of the central unanswered questions as the investigation continued. This is a breaking news story. Newsweek’s reporters and editors used Martyn, our AI assistant, to produce this story.
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