Gunman who killed 6 in Kraków mass shooting has died in hospital

The 24-year-old Polish man who opened fire in Kraków's Main Square on Saturday, killing six people and wounding 15, died in a hospital at 4:30 a.m. Monday morning, police confirmed. He had been in critical condition since the attack, undergoing multiple surgeries after being shot by police officers who intervened heroically. The assailant drove through the historic Old Town square—Poland's second-largest city and a major tourist destination—in military-style clothing with a bulletproof vest, opening fire from his vehicle. Several foreigners were among the dead and wounded, underscoring the international impact of the violence that erupted in one of Europe's most beloved medieval cities.

Authorities discovered the bodies of the gunman's sister, mother and father at his family home in Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski, roughly 93 miles northeast of Kraków, with investigators believing they died from gunshot wounds. Seven weapons were seized from the family home, bringing the total recovered firearms to nearly a dozen, including four found in the attacker's possession or car. The Interior Minister initially suggested the gunman held far-right extremist views, describing him as having 'very radical' and 'ultra-nationalistic' beliefs, but later declined to offer any motive until 'the matter is fully clarified.'

Prosecutors have opened an investigation into 'murder and attempted murder of numerous people, including police officers,' classifying the act as 'a terrorist offense.' They have secured the attacker's electronic devices, seeking to determine if he was inspired by anyone or received assistance. Poland's justice minister stated the investigation will aim to establish if the 24-year-old acted alone, while political tensions simmer over how to interpret the attack's motivations. The two police officers who stopped the gunman remain hospitalized but conscious, their intervention credited with preventing a significantly higher death toll.

On Sunday night, mourners laid candles and flowers alongside bullet holes in the square, transforming a site of joy into one of grief. Local resident Maciej Sikorski told the Associated Press he came to the square 'so as not to get caught up in a spiral of fear and anxiety,' warning that 'in a situation like this, it's all too easy to stop living — to start being afraid instead, and just vegetate.' The attack occurred during Poland's second day of national mourning, as the nation grapples with both collective grief and the unsettling question of whether this represents an isolated act of extremism or part of a broader pattern requiring societal reckoning.