World leaders have paid tribute as Poland declared two national days of mourning after a shooter motivated by far-right ideologies killed six people in Krakow on Saturday, in what the country’s defense minister characterized as a “terrorist attack.” Four women and two men were killed in the midday attack, the deadliest shooting in the country in decades, while a police officer who confronted the gunman is in critical condition. The suspect is being investigated on suspicion of murder in connection with the six deaths, Polish Justice Minister Waldemar Żurek said on Sunday, adding that he “acted with the aim of seriously intimidating a large number of people, making it a terrorist crime.” Świętokrzyskie, Żurek said, a town about 150 kilometers northeast of Krakow, where three of the man’s relatives were found dead in their home. “Establishing all the circumstances of these tragic events, determining the full sequence of the perpetrator’s actions and obtaining evidence are currently the priorities of the investigation,” which is led by specialists in terrorist crimes within the prosecutor’s office, he said. Interior Minister Marcin Kierwiński did not name the suspect, but identified him as a Polish citizen in his 20s from Ostrowiec Świętokrzyskie. He used an automatic rifle, Kierwiński said Saturday, describing him as someone who held “ultranationalist” views. “Everything indicates that he was fascinated by far-right ideologies,” he said. Police shot the suspect at the scene and he was taken to the hospital around 3 p.m. local time. He remains in critical condition, regional governor Krzysztof Klęczar said at a news conference on Sunday. A man and two women later found dead in an apartment are believed to be the suspect’s parents and sister, according to Andrzej Fijołek, deputy inspector at the National Police Headquarters. On Sunday, the Home Office announced two national days of mourning, November 8 and 9. Kulik “is fighting for his life in the hospital” after confronting the shooter. Police officers guard the cordoned off area in Krakow’s historic center on Sunday, a day after a gunman killed six people. Wojtek Radwanski / AFP via Getty “One of his lungs is not working and he needs every drop of blood he can get,” he posted on X. Police later said blood banks in Krakow were full and thanked those who donated it. Officer Jakub Kulik and Officer Artur Moranski are true heroes,” said Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, referring to both police officers. Klęczar said that without “the efficient and selfless intervention” of the officers, “the number of victims could have been significantly higher.” Video posted on social media shows what appears to be a wounded police officer shooting at the gunman before falling to his knees and rolling onto his back. The officer, who did not appear to have any injuries, is seen reinforcements nearby, struggling to reload his firearm and appeared to be clutching his right arm. Four of those killed in the attack in the city center have been identified, although their names have not been released. They include four Polish citizens, a British citizen and a non-Polish woman whose nationality has not yet been made public, Klęczar said. police. British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband said the UK government “deeply regrets the British citizen and other victims” who died in the shooting. “The UK stands in strong solidarity with the people of Poland,” he said. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also said on Saturday that his country “stands in solidarity” with neighboring Poland, calling the shooting a “shocking crime”. American injured in violence. “It is truly extraordinary to contemplate the horror of yesterday’s terrible mass murder in Krakow,” said the US ambassador to Poland, Tom Rose, in a post on people.” Krakow and surrounding streets reopened on Sunday, but cordons remain in place while police carry out forensic work, the city said in a statement. Several makeshift memorials with flowers and candles appeared throughout the city on Sunday. Dorfmeister said there was a delay before the crowd reacted and then everyone began fleeing the area. He said he took shelter in a building. “We ran up the stairs of the building to hide and it was a dead end, which was when the most I was scared because the shots were heard. [loud] and close,” Dorfmeister told NBC News. It sounded to Dorfmeister as if the gunshots were coming from the first floor of the building where he hid. The student from Santa Cruz, California, was “fully prepared for the worst” based on the proximity of the noise, he said. “This is it,” Dorfmeister thought. “Like there was nowhere to go, nowhere to hide.” Marie-Ange Collaer was visiting her family in Brussels. “We literally ran for our lives. and we managed to “Hide from the bullets flying around,” he wrote on Facebook. “Lying on the floor of a store like in a bad police movie while you hear bullets everywhere.” Collaer said his family was shaky and “pretty shocked” after returning to their hotel, but everyone was grateful to be alive. “We saw some who did not manage to survive, true horror,” he wrote. UK resident Neil Thaxton and his wife, Nicky, also survived the attack. “We had just walked through the main square and heard the gunshots.” Thaxton wrote on Facebook: “We thought it was fireworks so people started running, we went into a gift shop and the staff took us to the back of the shop, closed the doors and turned off the lights.”
