Krakow, November 7: The death toll from the shooting in Krakow's Main Market Square (Rynek Glowny) on Saturday afternoon has risen to six, Polish police said in an update on X. 'The death toll now stands at six: four women and two men,' the police said, adding that a dozen others, including police officers, were wounded. NPR put the total number hurt at 15, including two police officers, one of them seriously wounded, according to Poland's interior minister. AFP reported the police update from Krakow, NPR reported the wounded total and the attacker's age, and AnewZ also reported at least six killed and 15 injured, citing Polish authorities.

Source: AFP via EuropeSays

The attacker: 24, in fatigues and a vest, more guns in his car

Police said the gunman, a 24-year-old Polish citizen, drove a car onto the Main Market Square and began shooting at random people. Krakow police spokeswoman Katarzyna Cislo told broadcaster TVN24 that he was clad in military fatigues and armed with a long gun, and that officers searching his car 'discovered other firearms and a large quantity of ammunition'. NPR reported he was also wearing a bulletproof vest and a military-type long gun, and that, according to Cislo, he kept firing at police even after being shot himself. Officers shot and wounded him in a gunfight a short distance from the square; he was taken to hospital for surgery. Police later said he had acted alone and that the public was safe.

Source: NPR via World Right Now

The first warning came shortly before the main shooting, when a tram driver reported at around 3:00 p.m. that his vehicle had been shot at by a man in a moving car near the square and the window of his cabin was shattered, according to the Krakow municipal transport company. Witnesses told AFP they saw people seeking shelter in shops and restaurants around the usually bustling square. One witness, a woman in her sixties who gave her name as Annette, told AFP: 'I saw a man shooting at people and walking around the square.' An AFP reporter at the scene noted ambulances and multiple police cars as officers cordoned off the square, and a Polish Medical Air Rescue helicopter landed in the square, NPR reported.

Tusk heads to Krakow; condolences from Zelensky, EU and the US

Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who headed to Krakow after the attack, called it 'a tragic shooting', said police were investigating all the circumstances, and praised the officers who responded: 'Our highest praise goes to the heroic police officers who risked their lives in the line of duty,' he said, in AFP's reporting. President Karol Nawrocki said on X he was awaiting 'a full explanation of the circumstances surrounding these dramatic events' and that 'the safety of Poles is an absolute priority'; AnewZ reported the head of his National Security Bureau was on his way to Krakow. Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said he was receiving condolence messages from foreign ministers around the world. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned what he called 'a shocking crime' and said Ukraine stands in solidarity with Poland; the EU's top diplomat Kaja Kallas called it 'a tragedy that will be felt far beyond Poland'; and US Ambassador Tom Rose said on X that 'America stands with Poland at this dark hour.'

Source: AnewZ

Motive still unknown; weapons question ahead

Police have not given a motive and have not disclosed the nationalities of the victims. It is not yet clear whether the long gun used in the attack, or the other firearms found in the attacker's car, were legally held — NPR noted that around 411,000 people hold gun permits in Poland, a country of about 37-38 million, and that how the attacker obtained his weapons is likely to be a central part of the investigation. Deadly shootings are extremely rare in Poland, an EU and NATO member; AFP reported the country had been on high alert after a series of stabbings in October that Tusk denounced as a 'cult of violence', and NPR noted a series of violent attacks at schools in the Mazovia province in mid-October.

What happens next

Investigators must now establish the gunman's motive, how he planned the attack and where his weapons came from, while doctors treat the 15 wounded, including the seriously injured police officer. Krakow, Poland's second-largest city and once its capital, drew 16.2 million visitors in 2025, the city said, and its Main Square — the heart of the old town — remained cordoned off as the investigation continued on Saturday evening.