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- November 8, 20267°
Witnesses recount terror after Krakow square attack kills 6
Witnesses recounted the panic in Krakow’s Main Market Square when a gunman opened fire from his car at pedestrians and tourists, killing 6 people and injuring 16 others. Messages of European solidarity with Poland followed as the country began procedures to declare national mourning on November 8 and 9.
It was an ordinary Saturday in Krakow’s Main Market Square, known as Rynek Główny, when a black car entered the vehicle-free square at around 3 p.m. local time and its driver began firing randomly at pedestrians and tourists. The attack killed 6 people—4 women and 2 men—and injured 16 others, including 2 police officers, according to the latest toll announced by Polish authorities.
A young man named Konrad told Polish website Interia that he was walking along Sławkowska Street, which leads to the square, when he heard the gunshots: “At first I thought they were firecrackers, but they were regular, successive and deep.” He added: “I suddenly turned around, and the scene looked as if a lion had entered the savannah. Everyone started running, and people were falling to the ground.” He said he saw the black car pass the horse-drawn carriages. One of the horses reared up on its hind legs while gunfire came from the driver’s window and smoke rose from it.
Konrad took refuge in the police station in the square, which he found packed with people lying on the floor. “None of them spoke Polish; they were all tourists,” he said. After the car moved away, he went outside and saw paramedics trying to resuscitate a woman in front of a shop.
“We had never seen anything like this before”
A woman in her sixties named Annette told Agence France-Presse: “I saw a man shooting at people and moving around the square. It is a tragedy for Krakow; we had never seen anything like this before.” Maciej Bach, a resident of the Old Town, told Rzeczpospolita that he rushed to the window after hearing the gunshots and saw a car fleeing from the square toward Wawel Castle, pursued by a police car.
The clip, filmed from a window in a tall building and circulated on social media as showing the attacker’s car, shows a dark vehicle speeding along a street near the Old Town as pedestrians move out of its way. According to police spokeswoman Katarzyna Cisło, the attacker made a “crazy circuit” around the square, injuring people in several locations before fleeing toward Wawel Castle. On the way, he fired at a tram, shattering the driver’s cabin window, according to the city’s public transport company.
Even the horses pulling the white carriages famous in the square were not spared. The animal welfare group OTOZ Animals said the attacker injured 2 horses, both of which were alive.
Police under fire and a city in mourning
The pursuit ended at the intersection of Dietla and Stradomska streets, where the attacker got out of the car. Police said he was a 24-year-old Polish citizen from the Świętokrzyskie region. He opened fire at officers and continued shooting even after falling to the ground, before he was wounded and arrested. Two police officers were injured, one critically after being hit by 3 bullets. Police said the attacker acted alone, while Interior Minister Marcin Kierwiński said one foreign national was among the identified victims without disclosing the person’s nationality.
Krakow Mayor Łukasz Gibała praised municipal guards who were among the first responders despite being unarmed. He declared mourning in the city through November 11, stressing that Krakow would remain open to visitors, and said: “The square will be ours again.” The municipality also opened a psychological support hotline operating around the clock.
Krakow Archbishop Cardinal Grzegorz Ryś issued a message saying that “any one of us could have been in the square at that time” and stressing that “the final word cannot belong to hatred.” He called for a special Mass at St. Mary’s Basilica in the square on Sunday at 4 p.m.
European solidarity
Messages of condolence came from European capitals. EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas wrote that the tragic loss of life was “a tragedy whose impact will extend far beyond Poland,” adding that Poland was “not alone” in this moment of grief. European Parliament President Roberta Metsola wrote that the tragedy occurred on “a Saturday afternoon that was supposed to pass peacefully,” thanked police and emergency teams for their swift response, and concluded: “Stay strong, Krakow.” Messages of solidarity also came from Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda, Latvian President Edgars Rinkēvičs, Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar, the Romanian prime minister and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
In Poland, Prime Minister Donald Tusk described what happened as an “assault” and praised the “heroic police officers,” while President Karol Nawrocki began procedures to declare national mourning on November 8 and 9. Around 15 million tourists visit Krakow each year, most of them passing through the Main Market Square, which contains the Cloth Hall and St. Mary’s Basilica.
Cover photo: Agencja Wyborcza.pl via Reuters. Photos: Reuters. Video: Social media / Clash Report
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