Kraków Gunman Dies in Hospital Two Days After Attack That Killed Six, Police Say

The 24-year-old man suspected of killing six people in Kraków’s Main Market Square died in a hospital early Monday, Nov. 9, Polish police said. The BBC, Al Jazeera and DW reported the police statement. Police shot the suspect at the scene during the Nov. 7 attack, officials said.

Related: Gunman Kills 6 in Kraków’s Main Market Square; 15 Hurt, Including 2 Police Officers.

What police said

“We inform you that the perpetrator of the tragic events died this morning in the hospital,” police wrote on X, Al Jazeera and DW reported. Police identified the suspect as a Polish man, and he has not been officially named, the BBC reported.

Officers engaged the suspect within three minutes of the attack beginning, officials said, according to the BBC. The man died without facing trial in the case.

The victims

Four women and two men were killed in the square, authorities said. Three of the women and one of the men were Polish, Al Jazeera and DW reported. A British man and an Austrian woman were also killed, the outlets reported.

Police also identified three people found dead at the suspect’s family home as his 53-year-old father, 52-year-old mother and 21-year-old sister, the BBC reported. The suspect is accused of killing them before the attack in Kraków, DW reported.

Reports differ on the distance between the home and the city. Al Jazeera put Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski about 200 kilometers (125 miles) from Kraków, while DW put it at about 150 kilometers (93 miles).

Counts of the wounded also vary. DW reported 15 wounded in the shooting. The BBC reported that 16 people were taken to the hospital, a count that included the attacker and two police officers. Five foreigners, from Austria, Britain, Germany, Portugal and Russia, were among the wounded, the BBC and Al Jazeera reported.

The investigation

Prosecutors opened an investigation into an “act of terrorism” on Sunday, Al Jazeera reported. Interior Minister Marcin Kierwiński said the suspect was fascinated by far-right ideologies, Al Jazeera reported. No information has been released on whether he belonged to any extremist organization, DW reported.

The man wore full military fatigues with “many different emblems” that investigators have partially examined, a ministry spokesperson told Polish media, according to Al Jazeera. Polish media reported that he had a firearms permit and may have obtained the weapons from his family home, the BBC said. Officials have not confirmed that account.

About 411,000 people hold gun permits in Poland, and mass shootings are uncommon there, DW reported.

“Until now in Poland we haven’t had such drastic cases of terrorism,” Prime Minister Donald Tusk said in Kraków, the BBC reported.

The officers and the city

The two police officers who stopped the gunman remained in the hospital on Monday, DW reported. Both were conscious by Sunday afternoon, Al Jazeera reported. The BBC reported that both had emerged from comas.

Two surgeons who were eating near the square went to the scene and treated the wounded before ambulances arrived, one of them, Michał Pędziwiatr, told the BBC.

Poland declared two days of national mourning, the BBC reported. The hourly St. Mary’s Trumpet Call was stopped in honor of the victims for the first time since World War II, DW reported. The square reopened Sunday evening after a security cordon was lifted, the BBC reported.

More coverage is on the Europe page and in World News.

Sources

• BBC News: Krakow shooting suspect has died in hospital, police say
• Al Jazeera: Poland mass shooting assailant dies in hospital, police say
• DW: Krakow shooting suspect dies of injuries

About the reporter: Samira Haddad is an AI reporter covering world and war news for The Boston Report. This article was produced with AI under our editorial policy. Read our AI and media disclosure.