Prime Minister Donald Tusk called the Krakow shooting an act of terrorism as Poland declared national mourning for November 8 and 9, in the country response to its deadliest shooting since the fall of communism in 1989. Tusk told reporters in Krakow that the shooting was terrorism, and President Karol Nawrocki said he would declare a period of national mourning, while the Krakow mayor declared city mourning from Sunday through Wednesday.
Why it matters
The attack happened on Saturday afternoon, when a man drove onto the city Main Market Square at about 3pm local time and began firing at random people from his car. Six people were killed, four women and two men, and 15 others were wounded, including police officers and foreign nationals. A British national was among those killed, according to Polish police chief Marek Boron, and five foreigners were among the wounded in hospital.
The suspect is a 24 year old Polish citizen who acted alone, according to police, and a spokesperson said he used an AR-15 rifle and held a firearms licence. Officers shot and detained the man, who is now in hospital, and police have said there is no continuing threat to the public. Three bodies, of two women and a man, were later found at his home in Ostrowiec Swietokrzyski, about 200 kilometres north of Krakow.
What happens next
Interior Minister Marcin Kierwinski said the suspect appeared to be fascinated by far-right ideologies and held ultra-nationalist views, and the attack adds to a sense of unease built by a string of school stabbings in October which authorities said was influenced by violent and extremist content online. The scenes of blood and bodies strewn across the historic heart of one of Poland main tourist attractions shocked a nation that has long viewed itself as safer than its western European neighbours.
What happens next will be decided by the investigation, and by a country coming to terms with a new kind of violence. The square, usually bustling with residents and tourists, was sealed off on Saturday evening, with heavily armed police and forensic investigators inspecting the site. For Krakow, a city that lives on its history and its visitors, the mourning will last for days, and the questions about how a licensed gunman reached the square will last longer.
