In brief
Police confirmed the death of Michał O., who opened fire on Krakow’s Main Market Square and later killed three relatives at his home. The 24‑year‑old was wounded in a firefight with officers before dying at a hospital early Monday. Prosecutors have begun investigations into both the shooting and the family murders, with autopsies set to start Monday morning.
The 24‑year‑old Polish national Michał O. died in hospital on Monday after being wounded during a firefight with police that followed his Sunday‑night rampage in the Main Market Square of Krakow, the Provincial Police Headquarters said. In the attack, which began around 3 p.m. local time Saturday, the suspect drove a car into the square and fired indiscriminately from the vehicle, killing six people and injuring 16, including two police officers.
Police reports say that after exiting his car near the intersection of Dietla and Stradomska streets, the suspect engaged officers in a brief shoot‑out. He was shot, apprehended and transported to a hospital where he later died from his injuries.
Prosecutors have noted that the suspect was also charged with killing three members of his immediate family, two women and a man, in a home in Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski, about 90 kilometers north of Krakow. Authorities say the bodies were found in the residence, raising strong indications that the killings were domestic.
Autopsies on all victims are scheduled to begin Monday morning. Prosecutor Eryk Stasielak told the Polish Press Agency that the examinations could take up to two days because of the complex nature of the gunshot wounds. Investigators have begun to examine the family murders and the square shooting in parallel, with both cases linked to the suspect.
An Austrian citizen was among those killed in the square. Austrian Foreign Minister Beate Meinl‑Reisinger said the deceased’s husband was one of the 15 people injured, and reported that Austrian authorities were in close contact with Polish officials to support the victim’s relatives.
Interior Minister Marcin Kierwiński said investigators believed the suspect was influenced by far‑right ideology and held extreme nationalist views, while acknowledging that a clear motive had not yet been established. He added that police found no previous criminal record for the suspect.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk noted that the deaths of the three family members were ‘strongly indicated’ to be linked to the suspect’s household. He added that investigations are ongoing and that police would release additional details once further information is available.
Unresolved questions remain about the exact chain of events that led to the suspect’s fatal shooting, the precise nature of the motive behind both the public and domestic killings, and the possible involvement of extremist ideology. Current reporting does not provide definitive answers to these issues, leaving them for future inquiry by prosecutors and investigators.