Poland is dealing with a deadly attack in the heart of Kraków after a gunman in military-style clothing drove onto the Main Market Square at about 3 p.m. on Saturday, November 7, 2026, and opened fire on passersby from his car.
Six people were killed, including four women and two men, while 15 others were wounded. Police exchanged fire with the suspect roughly a kilometer from the square before shooting and detaining him. Prime Minister Donald Tusk called the shooting a terrorist attack.
U.S. Ambassador to Poland Tom Rose described it as “a savage and murderous attack that’s shattered the peace of Poland.” In a post on X, Rose wrote that “several innocent precious lives were viciously cut down on a Saturday afternoon in Kraków’s historic and iconic central square.” He added, “America stands with Poland at this dark hour as Poland stands with her beloved citizens of Krakow.”
The suspect reportedly entered the square from Sławkowska Street in a black Subaru and fired a rifle at people. Polish officials also said he fired at a tram on All Saints’ Square. More gunfire was reported at the Small Market Square and on Stradomska Street before an officer stopped him at the intersection of Stradomska and Dietla streets.
Two police officers were among the wounded, and Interior Minister Marcin Kierwiński said one was in critical condition. GB News reported that one officer had been shot three times and was undergoing surgery. Tusk praised the “heroic police officers who risked their lives.”
Authorities have been more cautious than the first wave of political commentary. Kierwiński said the suspect held very radical views and was fascinated with far-right ideologies, but later described possible ultranationalist views as a hypothesis and said he did not want to go further. Authorities have not publicly identified a motive, released social media posts or a manifesto, or provided evidence of group membership supporting that characterization.
That distinction matters. A horrific crime does not become easier to understand just because someone rushes to attach a political label to it. The motive remains publicly unresolved, while the political machinery in Warsaw is already grinding away.
The claims emerged during a bitter fight between Tusk’s governing coalition and Poland’s conservative opposition, including a confrontation over control of the Constitutional Tribunal. On October 30, Judge Anna Korwin-Piotrowska suspended Tribunal President Bogdan Święczkowski and his deputy, Bartłomiej Sochański, for one month. Korwin-Piotrowska is a government-backed appointee whom President Karol Nawrocki has refused to swear in.
Police then surrounded the court building in Warsaw, Nawrocki returned from a trip to Senegal, and hundreds of protesters gathered outside the tribunal. Accusations of a coup followed. Standing at the court’s gate, Święczkowski told officers they were participating in a coup “organized most likely by Donald Tusk.”
Kraków police said on X that “the only known perpetrator of the incident is in police custody,” after false reports circulated online about a second attacker. Polish media identified the suspect as Michał O., a lathe operator from Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski. Defense Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz denied that he was a Polish soldier, saying he had never served in the armed forces.
Police spokeswoman Katarzyna Cisło said the rifle appeared to be an AR-15-type semi-automatic weapon, while stressing that the identification was preliminary. Officers found additional weapons and ammunition in the suspect’s car. Police said he had no criminal record. Wirtualna Polska reported that he held a sport-shooting permit and belonged to a shooting club in Starachowice. His father also belonged to the club and had 11 firearms registered in his name. Investigators are examining whether the suspect took his father’s weapons.
Nawrocki said he was “deeply concerned by reports of the tragic events” and called for “a full explanation of the circumstances surrounding these tragic events.” He also said “the safety of Poles is an absolute priority.” Former Polish counterterrorism officers told Rzeczpospolita the shooting was probably the first attack of its kind in Poland. Kraków draws about 15 million visitors a year, and Warsaw has since announced road barriers and additional security measures in its Old Town.
Investigators are now examining “the background and all the circumstances of the attack,” as Tusk put it. Until authorities release more evidence, the victims, the wounded and the police officers who intervened remain at the center of this tragedy, not the political theories competing for the fastest headline.
Source: The Gateway Pundit
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