The suspected terrorist accused of killing his family before opening fire on six people in a crowded Polish market has been identified as a 25-year-old military cadet at a school around 80 miles from the city where the attack took place.
Wearing military-style fatigues, the gunman—described as obsessed with Nazi ideology—killed four women and two men, including a British national, on Saturday.
The shooting left 15 people injured and unfolded in Krakow’s historic Main Market Square. At about 3pm local time, the attacker arrived in a black Subaru and opened fire with an AR-15-style rifle at a tram, pedestrians and two horses.
The rampage ended when a police officer who had already been shot three times moved towards the vehicle and fired at the suspect from close range. The officer then collapsed from his own injuries.
The suspect, locally named as Michal O, is a Polish citizen believed to have been attending a military school roughly 80 miles from Krakow. He survived the shooting and is being treated in hospital.
Later on Saturday, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said two women and a man had also been found dead at the suspect’s home. They are believed to have been his parents and sister.
Interior Minister Marcin Kierwinski said the attacker was “fascinated by far-right ideologies” and held “very radical views”.
Neighbours said they were shocked by the news. “He was polite and quiet. We cannot say anything bad about him,” residents of the apartment building told reporters, saying his behaviour had never raised suspicions.
Footage from the suspected terror attack in Krakow appeared to show the face of the alleged gunman, locally identified as Michal O
The suspect is believed to have driven a black Subaru into Krakow’s Main Market Square before opening fire with an AR-15-style rifle. Police are pictured examining the vehicle
Police and security officers outside the suspect’s home in south-eastern Poland, where his family members were found dead
Video showed an officer approaching a person believed to be the gunman, who was wearing green military-style fatigues, before firing up to six shots and collapsing from his injuries
“He was just an ordinary guy. He would walk around with his hood up and say ‘good morning’. I cannot say a bad word about him,” another neighbour told Polish media.
The officer underwent emergency surgery and was described as being in a “very critical” condition. A second policeman who was shot was also understood to be fighting for his life, alongside several other victims.
Prime Minister Tusk described senior constables Jakub Kulik and Artur Morański as “true heroes” as both remained in critical condition in hospital. He did not specify which officer had confronted the suspect’s vehicle.
Distressing footage from the square showed women crying beside the victims’ bodies, with blood visible across the paving. In other scenes, people performed CPR on unconscious casualties as additional police units reached the area.
Unverified social media videos appeared to capture the moment shots were fired in the square, as traditional horse-drawn carriages used by tourists moved through the area or stood nearby. One man was seen seeking shelter inside a restaurant or café.
Poland’s interior ministry said the five foreign nationals injured in the attack were from Austria, Germany, Portugal, Russia and Britain.
The military confirmed that the suspect was not a serving soldier. It said the fatigues and bulletproof vests he was wearing had been assembled privately rather than issued by the armed forces.
A substantial weapons cache was recovered from the Subaru’s boot, including a DB carbine, a P99 pistol, a Glock pistol and a Chinese-made bulletproof vest. Reports said some of the weapons belonged to the suspect, while others were registered to his father, who owned the car.
The suspect had no known criminal record.
On Saturday night, Mr Tusk said: “My deepest condolences go to the families and loved ones of those killed in the tragic attack in Krakow. I offer my highest praise to the heroic police officers who acted at the risk of their own lives.
“I make an urgent appeal to politicians of every stripe: do not exploit this tragedy. We will establish all the circumstances surrounding this crime.”
Tomasz Waszczuk, from the city’s district prosecutor’s office, said: “Everything indicates that he opened fire at random people. I can confirm that there are six fatalities.
“More than a dozen people suffered injuries of varying severity and are currently receiving treatment in hospital.”
Prime Minister Andy Burnham said he was “shocked and saddened by the appalling shooting” and that his thoughts were with those affected.
“The United Kingdom stands in solidarity with the people of Poland,” he said.
Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband said: “The UK Government deeply mourns the British national and the other victims who died after the appalling attack in Krakow.
“My deepest condolences go to the families of all those who lost their lives.”
Police and firefighters near Krakow’s Main Market Square following the shooting
People shelter inside a shop near the main market square, where shattered glass covered the floor after the shooting
An air ambulance in the square after the attack, which killed six people and injured at least 16, including two police officers
Jonny Daniels, a 40-year-old London-based Holocaust education tour guide, had left the square with 30 tourists—including three Britons—just five minutes before the shooting began.
The group had been travelling to Krakow’s former ghettos, where Jews were imprisoned during the Holocaust.
“We were very lucky. If we had stayed a little longer, we would have been caught. Some of us would definitely have been shot,” he said.
The group had been scheduled to return to the area the following day.
President Karol Nawrocki said his thoughts were with the victims, those affected and their families.
He said he was “deeply concerned” and was awaiting “a full explanation of the circumstances surrounding these tragic events”.
Mass shootings are rare in Poland. However, three knife attacks at schools took place within four days last month, leaving a woman dead and children among those injured.
Mr Tusk said at the time that the incidents had been fuelled by the “glorification of violence” online, adding: “We are not dealing with any group organised on a large scale.”
An anti-government protest had been scheduled for 2pm local time in Matejki Place, close to the market square, before Saturday’s shooting.
Poland is also facing a constitutional crisis over the appointment of judges to its top court, an issue that has deepened tensions between the nationalist president and the pro-European government.
Earlier this year, Mr Nawrocki refused to swear in judges nominated by the Polish parliamentary majority led by Mr Tusk, a former president of the European Council.
Mr Tusk’s coalition promised to reform the court after taking office in 2023, following criticism that the nationalist Law and Justice party, known as PiS, had filled the bench with its own nominees and weakened the rule of law.
But Mr Nawrocki, who was endorsed by PiS, has obstructed efforts to appoint new judges. Their access was also blocked by the tribunal’s president, Bogdan Swieczkowski.
Last week, Mr Nawrocki returned from a visit to Africa after reports that Anna Korwin-Piotrowska, the tribunal’s longest-serving judge, had suspended Mr Swieczkowski and assumed control herself.
Police have guarded the court since last Friday, as hundreds of protesters gathered to call for Mr Swieczkowski to be reinstated.
