Krakow shooting suspect dies in hospital, Polish police say
The 24-year-old gunman accused of killing six people in Krakow's Main Market Square and three members of his own family has died from his injuries.
By Ricardo Brooks ·
The man suspected of killing six people in central Krakow and three members of his own family has died in hospital, Polish police said on Monday.
The 24-year-old Polish national was shot by armed officers on Saturday after opening fire in the busy Main Market Square of Krakow, Poland's second largest city. Officials said police engaged him in a gunfight and wounded him within three minutes of the attack beginning, preventing a further massacre. Krakow police confirmed he died early on Monday morning.
The shooting began shortly before 15:00 local time (14:00 GMT) on Saturday. Police identified the attacker as a 24-year-old Polish man but did not release his name. In the hours after the attack, a minister said early findings indicated the suspect was inspired by "far-right ideologies" and described him as an "ultra-nationalist", without giving further details.
Six people, four women and two men, were killed in the square. Four of the victims were Polish, while a British national and an Austrian woman also died. Sixteen people were taken to hospital, among them five foreigners from Austria, Britain, Germany, Portugal and Russia, two police officers and the attacker himself, according to the interior ministry.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk said three more bodies, two women and one man, were discovered when officers searched the gunman's house after the attack. On Sunday, police confirmed the dead were the suspect's 53-year-old father, his 52-year-old mother and his 21-year-old sister. Polish media reported the suspect held a firearms permit and may have taken the weapons from the family home.
Two surgeons who were eating near the square when the shooting started ran towards the scene to treat the wounded, including the attacker and two injured police officers. Professor Michal Pądziwiatr told the BBC: "We rushed into the area where the shooting was and started our rescue, because there were no ambulances available, there were no professionals around."
Pądziwiatr said his colleague, named by local media as Dr Mateusz Wierdak, used his hand to stem the bleeding of the most gravely wounded policeman until an ambulance arrived, and "undoubtedly" saved his life. Both injured officers had emerged from comas by Sunday, it was reported.
Witnesses described scenes of panic as the attack unfolded. Ruby Catherine Warren, from London, said she "yelled at my friends to run and we all sprinted for our lives", sheltering in a hotel. Tom Brook, from West Yorkshire, heard "multiple gunshots" from inside a McDonald's and later saw paramedics treating a victim near a body covered in foil blankets.
Poland declared two days of national mourning following the attack. After travelling to Krakow, Tusk said: "Until now in Poland we haven't had such drastic cases of terrorism..that's what we have to call this cruel attack on people's lives here in Krakow." UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham said he was "shocked and saddened by the appalling shooting in Kraków", adding that the United Kingdom stood in solidarity with the Polish people. The Main Market Square reopened on Sunday evening after the security cordon was lifted.
