{"id":4016,"date":"2026-11-08T11:03:51","date_gmt":"2026-11-08T06:03:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=4016"},"modified":"2026-11-08T11:03:51","modified_gmt":"2026-11-08T06:03:51","slug":"six-killed-in-suspected-far-right-inspired-shooting-in-poland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=4016","title":{"rendered":"Six killed in suspected far-right-inspired shooting in Poland"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

A Polish gunman likely influenced by far-right ideology killed six \u200bpeople in the main square of the southern city of Krakow before police shot and arrested him, officials said on Saturday, adding that three more bodies were found in his home.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The scenes of \u200cblood and bodies strewn across the historic heart of one of Poland\u2019s main tourist attractions shocked a nation that has long viewed itself as safer than western European neighbours that have witnessed such attacks in the past.<\/p>\n

The mass shooting of unprecedented scale adds to the sense of unease built by a string of school stabbings<\/u><\/a> in October which authorities said was influenced by violent and extremist content online.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything points to the fact that the shooter was influenced by far-right ideology, a matter that will also be subject to investigation,\u201d Interior Minister Marcin Kierwinski \u200btold a news briefing.<\/p>\n

\u201cPolice officers are on-site, as are agents from the Internal Security Agency, both here at the scene and at the individual\u2019s family home.\u201d<\/p>\n

Polish authorities have said four women and two men were \u200bkilled in the attack in the city centre.<\/p>\n

Seventeen others, including two police officers and the assailant, were wounded.<\/p>\n

Police said one of the dead people identified so far was a \u2060British citizen.<\/p>\n

An interior ministry spokesperson said that the five foreign nationals injured in the shooting came from Austria, Germany, Portugal, Russia and Britain.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for the Lesser Poland Voivodeship office, the southern region where Krakow lies, told Reuters shortly after \u200bmidnight local time that the injured police officers were in stable condition after undergoing surgery, and the justice minister called for blood donations for one of the wounded officers.<\/p>\n

The spokesman also said the shooter was in \u201cstable but very critical condition\u201d \u200bafter multiple surgeries.<\/p>\n

Videos posted online had shown the assailant falling to the ground during a close-range shootout with police officers firing handguns.<\/p>\n

<\/a>Bodies found at gunman\u2019s house<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Prime Minister Donald Tusk said that the bodies of two women and one man had been found at the shooter\u2019s home in Ostrowiec Swietokrzyski, just under 200 kilometres north of Krakow.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are strong indications that they are members of his immediate family,\u201d Tusk told a crisis meeting.<\/p>\n

He said a drone had been used to look inside the gunman\u2019s home due to potential security threats.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know \u200bthat a significant amount of weaponry may be inside the house,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Local media in Ostrowiec Swietokrzyski reported that residents had been evacuated from the building where the gunman lived and that counterterrorism officers had entered the building.<\/p>\n

Speaking along \u200bwith the prime minister, Tomasz Siemoniak, the minister coordinating special services, said Poland\u2019s Internal Security Agency (ABW) and Military Counterintelligence Service (SKW) are supporting the investigation.<\/p>\n

<\/a>Military-style clothes<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Katarzyna Cislo, a local police spokesperson, said: \u201cThe shooter was wearing military-like clothes and used military weapons. Many \u2026 weapons and \u200cammunition were found \u2060in his vehicle too.\u201d<\/p>\n

Police spokesperson Andrzej Fijolek told private broadcaster TVN 24 that the assailant used an AR-15 rifle and that he had a firearms licence.<\/p>\n

According to police, the alleged gunman was a 24-year-old Polish citizen.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe only known perpetrator of the incident is in police custody,\u201d they added in a post on X. They did not mention a motive for the shootings.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s second-largest city, a popular tourist destination.<\/p>\n

Unverified footage shared on social media showed people fleeing the scene as shots rang out and police sirens blared.<\/p>\n

Other video showed two people \u200blying on blood-spattered paving stones and bystanders trying to \u200bresuscitate them. A third person lay motionless on the \u2060ground nearby.<\/p>\n

\u201cI saw shots being fired from the driver\u2019s 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,\u201d a man who gave his name only as Konrad, and witnessed the shooting, told news website Interia.<\/p>\n

A 67-year-old man called \u200bJulek told Reuters that he saw a dark car appear suddenly before the driver started shooting at a group of people and drove off.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we had been two \u200bminutes earlier, we might have \u2060been shot,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Unverified footage on social media showed shooting in the Main Market Square as traditional horse-drawn carriages, popular with tourists, passed through or were parked nearby.<\/p>\n

A man could be seen taking cover in one of the many restaurants and cafes that line the elegant square.<\/p>\n

<\/a>National mourning<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Kierwinski praised the heroism of officers who apprehended the suspect.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe police prevented a much larger massacre that could have otherwise occurred,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey fired shots at the attacker just three minutes after receiving the report.\u201d<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for President \u2060Karol Nawrocki said \u200bhe would declare a period of national mourning on November 8 and 9.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy thoughts are with the victims, those injured, and their families,\u201d Nawrocki \u200bwrote on X.<\/p>\n

Expressions of shock and condolence flooded in from around Europe.<\/p>\n

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called the shooting \u201cshocking.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOn behalf of the Ukrainian people, and personally, I extend my sincere condolences to the families and loved ones of the victims,\u201d he wrote on X.<\/p>\n

European foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas called \u200bit \u201ca tragedy that will be felt far beyond Poland.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Polish gunman likely influenced by far-right ideology killed six \u200bpeople in the main square of the southern city of Krakow before police shot and arrested him, officials said on Saturday, adding that three more bodies were found in his home. The scenes of \u200cblood and bodies strewn across the historic heart of one of Poland\u2019s main tourist attractions shocked a nation that has long viewed itself as safer than western European neighbours that have witnessed such attacks in the past. The mass shooting of unprecedented scale adds to the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4016","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-english"],"gutentor_comment":0,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4016","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4016"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4016\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4016"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4016"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4016"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}