Contents of the suspected gunman’s car trunk following the November 7, 2026, attack in Kraków. Photo: PAP/Art Service, via Radio Kielce.
A gunman wearing military-style clothing drove onto the Main Market Square (Rynek Główny) in Kraków, Poland, at about 3 p.m. on Saturday, November 7, 2026, and opened fire on passersby from his car, killing six people and wounding 15. Police shot and detained the suspect, a 24-year-old Polish citizen, after an exchange of fire about a kilometer from the square. Prime Minister Donald Tusk called the shooting a terrorist attack.
U.S. Ambassador to Poland Tom Rose called the shooting “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.”
Interior Minister Marcin Kierwiński told reporters that the suspect held very radical views and was fascinated with far-right ideologies. Kierwiński is a senior figure in Tusk’s governing coalition, which includes The Left (Lewica) and is the main rival of Poland’s conservative Law and Justice (Prawo i Sprawiedliwość) party. International outlets repeated his claim within hours.
At the same press conference, however, Kierwiński described the suspect’s possible ultranationalist views as a hypothesis and said he did not want to go further. Authorities have not publicly identified a motive or released social media posts, a manifesto or evidence of group membership supporting that characterization.
The claims about the suspect’s political views come amid a bitter struggle between Tusk’s governing coalition and Poland’s conservative opposition, including a confrontation over control of the country’s Constitutional Tribunal.
That standoff escalated on October 30, when 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 took up positions around the court building in Warsaw. Nawrocki turned his plane back from a trip to Senegal and returned to the capital. Hundreds of protesters gathered outside the tribunal, and accusations of a coup followed. Standing at the court’s gate, Święczkowski told police officers that they were taking part in a coup “organized most likely by Donald Tusk.”
The attacker entered the square from Sławkowska Street in a black Subaru and fired a rifle at people there, according to Polish officials. He also fired at a tram on All Saints’ Square (plac Wszystkich Świętych).
Further gunfire was reported on the Small Market Square (Mały Rynek) and Stradomska Street before a police officer stopped him at the intersection of Stradomska and Dietla streets. Four women and two men were killed. Kierwiński said five of the wounded were foreign nationals but did not identify their nationalities.
Two police officers were among the wounded, and Kierwiński said one was in critical condition. British broadcaster 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.”
Kraków police said on X that “the only known perpetrator of the incident is in police custody,” following false reports online of a second attacker. Polish media identified the suspect as Michał O., a lathe operator from Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski. Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz denied claims that the suspect was a Polish soldier, saying he had never served in the armed forces.
Police spokeswoman Katarzyna Cisło said the rifle used in the attack appeared to be an AR-15-type semi-automatic rifle, stressing that the identification was preliminary. Officers found additional weapons and ammunition in the suspect’s car. National Police Headquarters spokesman Andrzej Fijołek said the suspect had no criminal record.
According to Polish news portal Wirtualna Polska, he held a sport-shooting permit and belonged to a shooting club in Starachowice. His father also belongs to the club and has 11 firearms registered in his name. Kierwiński said investigators were examining whether the suspect had taken his father’s weapons.
President Karol Nawrocki said he was “deeply concerned by reports of the tragic events” and was in contact with the relevant authorities. In a post on X, he called for “a full explanation of the circumstances surrounding these tragic events.” Nawrocki also said the head of the National Security Bureau was traveling to Kraków, adding that “the safety of Poles is an absolute priority.”
Former Polish counterterrorism officers told the daily Rzeczpospolita that the shooting was probably the first attack of its kind in Poland. Kraków, the country’s second-largest city, draws about 15 million visitors a year.
Following the attack, Warsaw Mayor Rafał Trzaskowski announced road barriers and other security measures along main streets in the capital’s Old Town. Tusk said police were investigating “the background and all the circumstances of the attack.”
The post Kraków Terror Attack: Gunman Kills Six in Poland’s Historic Main Square as U.S. Ambassador Says “America Stands With Poland” appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
