Kraków Shooting Suspect Dies in Hospital After Killing Six People

“Senior Constable Jakub Kulik and Senior Constable Artur Morański are true heroes.

They likely saved many lives, without regard for the risk of losing their own,” Prime Minister Donald Tusk, via Stv. The gunman suspected of killing six people in a shooting rampage through the historic center of Kraków has died in a hospital, Polish authorities announced on Monday.

The 24-year-old Polish national died early Monday morning, according to the update released by Polish police on X. Armed officers rushed to the scene within three minutes of the attack beginning on Saturday afternoon and shot the assailant.

The violence began shortly before 15:00 on Saturday. The suspect drove through the Main Market Square in Kraków’s Old Town.

He wore military-style clothing and a bulletproof vest. Armed with an automatic weapon, he opened fire on pedestrians in the busy public square.

Six people — four women and two men — were killed in the square. At least a dozen more were injured.

Stv reported that 16 people were injured in total. That figure included two police officers and the attacker himself.

The dead in the square include three Polish women aged 47, 53, and 61. A 50-year-old Polish man, a 32-year-old British man, and an Austrian woman also died.

Five foreign nationals from Britain, Portugal, Russia, Germany, and Austria were among those wounded. Two police officers confronted the gunman at close range and were seriously injured in the exchange of fire.

Both officers, Jakub Kulik and Artur Morański, are under the age of 30. They had been in comas before regaining consciousness by Sunday afternoon.

Two surgeons who happened to be eating nearby, Michał Pędziwiatr and Mateusz Wierdak, stepped in to assist the wounded officers before formal medical aid arrived. Wierdak’s intervention proved critical for the officer who subdued the attacker.

Krakow shooting aftermath — Photo: gbnews.com

took care of the officer who subdued the attacker because he truly needed urgent help,

Michał Pędziwiatr, via Newsweek

Without protection, without gloves, he simply focused on the officer, stopping the bleeding in his chest. This probably saved his life,

Michał Pędziwiatr, via Newsweek

Hours after the shooting, authorities searched the suspect’s residence in Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski. The home is located about 150 kilometers northeast of Kraków.

They discovered the bodies of three family members. Prime Minister Donald Tusk confirmed that the victims were the suspect’s 53-year-old father, 52-year-old mother, and 21-year-old sister. All three are believed to have died from gunshot wounds.

The suspect’s sister, Magdalena Oksińska, was an artist. She was a third-year student at the Jan Matejko Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków.

Kraków Shooting Suspect Dies in Hospital After Killing Six People — Photo: news.stv.tv

We are filled with grief and a sense of irreparable loss. We bid farewell to Magda, a young artist and a member of our academic community whose life was tragically cut short.

Jan Matejko Academy of Fine Arts, via Newsweek

Interior Minister Marcin Kierwiński stated during a news conference that the suspect held very radical, ultranationalist views.

Everything indicates that he was fascinated by far-right ideologies,

Interior Minister Marcin Kierwiński, via Newsweek

Prosecutors have opened an investigation into murder, attempted murder, and attacks on police officers. They officially classified the shooting as a terrorist offense.

Poland declared two days of national mourning in response to the tragedy.