Krakow: family members of the far-right attacker found dead at home. The death toll stands at nine
Six people were killed in the square. Around fifteen were injured, including two police officers in a serious condition. Tusk has described the incident as an act of terrorism. Thirty-four pupils from a secondary school in Albano Laziale have been rescued.
The bodies were found in the attacker’s flat: his 53-year-old father, his 52-year-old mother and his 20-year-old sister, all shot dead. This was confirmed to TVN24 by Deputy Inspector Andrzej Fijołek, spokesperson for the Polish police chief: the death toll from Saturday afternoon’s massacre in Kraków has thus risen to nine.
The attack
The attack took place shortly after 3 pm on Saturday, when a young man – a 24-year-old Polish national dressed in camouflage – sped into Rynek Główny, the city’s iconic square, in a black Subaru with no number plate. There, he opened fire on passers-by with an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle. Within minutes, six people were killed – four women and two men, including a British national. Around fifteen people were injured, many of whom are in a serious condition. Among them are two police officers, who were shot when the man returned fire during his arrest at the junction of Stradomska and Dietla streets. After a critical night, one of the two has undergone surgery; the other remains in a coma.
Chief of the General Staff Wiesław Kukula has called on members of the armed forces to donate blood for the injured. The attacker, who was shot by the police, is also ‘seriously injured’ and in a critical condition, Fijołek reported.
Videos circulating on social media show passers-by fleeing in all directions and others administering first aid to the injured on the ground. Many sought shelter in the shops and restaurants around the square, which, as on every Saturday, was crowded with locals and tourists.
According to spokeswoman Katarzyna Cisło, there were “numerous weapons and rounds of ammunition” in the car. The man held a firearms licence, whilst reports that he was a soldier have been denied.
