Police confirmed the suspect’s death on 9 November. Justice Minister Waldemar Żurek says computer evidence shows visits to websites about Anders Breivik and points to far-right radicalization and psychiatric issues as possible motives, as the investigation continues.
The suspect in the shooting that killed 6 people in Kraków’s Main Market Square died in hospital early on 9 November, Małopolska police said. Police had shot, wounded and arrested him after the attack on 7 November 2026.
The death does not end the terrorism investigation. Justice Minister Waldemar Żurek told The Guardian that investigators would seek to establish whether the suspect acted alone or was inspired by a group. Poland’s National Prosecutor’s Office opened the inquiry on 8 November into killings with a firearm and attempted murders, including those of police officers, describing the attack as a terrorist offense.
A unit specializing in terrorist offenses is leading the prosecution investigation, the BBC reported. Prime Minister Donald Tusk called the shooting an act of terrorism and said police were investigating its background and all circumstances. He said the motives would be carefully studied and warned against online disinformation.
Prosecutors named the suspect as Michal Oksinski, a 24-year-old factory worker, according to Al Jazeera. Police said he drove into the square, a popular tourist destination, and fired at people at random from his car.
The attack began shortly before 15:00 local time (18:00 in Yerevan), the BBC reported. Police spokesperson Katarzyna Cisło said the gunman wore military-style clothing and used a military-type long gun. Police spokesperson Andrzej Fijolek said it was a semi-automatic rifle similar to the American AR-15. Police chief inspector Marek Boroń said armed officers responded within three minutes of the first report.
Authorities initially said the Polish gunman acted alone and was wounded in a nearby exchange of fire; Małopolska police denied reports that another perpetrator remained at large. Żurek subsequently said the continuing inquiry would examine whether he acted alone. Earlier BBC and Guardian reports gave the suspect’s age as 25; later reporting, including the prosecutors’ identification, gave it as 24. The BBC had previously reported that authorities had not named him.
Houthi-run media say the November 7 airstrikes in al-Shariyah also injured 39 people and accuse Saudi Arabia of carrying them out; the Saudi-led coalition has not commented.
The six people killed in the square were four women and two men: four Polish victims, a British national and an Austrian woman, the BBC reported. Kierwiński initially said 16 people were hospitalized, including five foreign nationals; the BBC said the total included the suspect and two officers shot while detaining him. The Interior Ministry said the foreign nationals were from Austria, Britain, Germany, Portugal and Russia.
Injury reports differed: The Guardian reported 17 injured on 8 November and 16 on 9 November; the BBC initially reported 16 hospitalized, including the suspect, and later 15 injured. DW initially reported about a dozen injured and later 15; an earlier Al Jazeera report gave at least 10. An early Guardian live account reported five deaths; its updated article carried a six-death headline and opening alongside a five-death heading.
City officials had urged residents and tourists to stay away from the area during the investigation. Main Market Square reopened on the evening of 8 November after the security cordon was lifted, the BBC reported. Warsaw police said security had been bolstered in the capital.
Poland observed two days of national mourning on 8 November and 9, as announced by Tusk. Kraków Mayor Łukasz Gibała declared mourning in the city until 11 November.
On 10 November, Żurek said authorities had accessed Oksinski’s computer and found visits to websites about Anders Breivik, the Norwegian neo-Nazi who killed 77 people in July 2011, DW said. The minister described the suspect as deeply interested in international far-right movements. He said initial evidence pointed to far-right radicalization and psychiatric issues as possible motives.
That assessment followed prosecutors’ caution on 9 November. National Prosecutor’s Office spokesperson Przemysław Nowak said investigators had not established that a particular ideology inspired the suspect and that it was too early to characterize his motives. He also said they had found no obvious symbols generally associated with a particular far-right or far-left political movement.
The prosecutor’s office said a yellow Gadsden flag bearing a coiled snake was displayed in the suspect’s bedroom. A spokesperson said the flag had various meanings associated with freedom and rebellion, not necessarily negative ones. Interior Minister Marcin Kierwiński told public radio on 10 November that he was not withdrawing his earlier comments about far-right influence but was waiting for investigators’ findings, Al Jazeera said.
Kierwiński had earlier said indications pointed to far-right ideology influencing the suspect, adding that this would be investigated. Government spokesperson Adam Szlapka told TVN24 that comments should be withheld until the matter was fully clarified and authorities had complete information, even if there were initial indications.
DW said police had gathered evidence that the suspect recently bought 10 magazines—devices that hold ammunition—for a semi-automatic rifle and 500 bullets. Żurek said the evidence showed he had been preparing to act. The minister also said a silencer, a device that reduces gunshot noise, was found in the car, Al Jazeera said.
Police identified 3 people found dead at the suspect’s home in Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski as his parents and sister. Those deaths were separate from the killings in the square. Oksinski was suspected of killing the relatives before the public attack, DW said. DW also described a formal investigation announcement on 9 November; the prosecutor’s office had announced the terrorism inquiry the previous day.
DW and France 24 placed the family home around 150 kilometers northeast of Kraków; the BBC gave the distance as around 200 kilometers.
Poland’s government announced an urgent review of firearms eligibility checks on 9 November, the BBC said. Oksinski had passed the required checks, including psychological tests. Police said he held a firearms license and had no criminal record.
The BBC said a search of his car found 4 firearms and hundreds of rounds of ammunition, all legally owned by him and his father. Both belonged to the Swit Starachowice sports club, which has a shooting range. The broadcaster’s 10 November account also said wounded officer Jakub Kulik’s condition remained serious; police had earlier described both injured officers as stable.
Tusk named the injured officers as Senior Constables Jakub Kulik and Artur Morański. The Guardian reported that Kulik, a former paratrooper and volunteer firefighter, was critically injured in a close-range exchange of fire, hit by three bullets and operated on 7 November; Morański was shot in the chest area and also underwent surgery. Both emerged from medically induced comas on 8 November, Polskie Radio 24 reported, according to The Guardian. Police spokesperson Katarzyna Cislo said that day that two hospitalized women had been discharged.
Earlier, Małopolskie governor Krzysztof Jan Kleczar told Polsat News that 12 injured people were in life-threatening condition, The Guardian reported. The BBC reported that surgeon Pędziwiatr told Fakt he treated other victims and the suspect after the shooting stopped while his colleague Wierdak treated the officer shot in the chest. Pędziwiatr credited Wierdak with undoubtedly saving the officer’s life and said he called John Paul II Hospital, urging that the officer be taken there because its thoracic and cardiac specialists offered the best chance of survival.
Six Dublin Civil Defence volunteers also helped after the shooting, the BBC reported. Officer James McConnell told RTE News that the group was nearby on a city break and provided CPR and hemorrhage control.
Kierwiński said police found weapons in the suspect’s car. Police checked the car at the intersection of Dietla and Stradomska streets for explosives but found none; nearby residents were evacuated during the operation, the BBC reported.
Poland’s Interior Ministry spokesperson Karolina Gałecka said the Central Bureau for Combating Cybercrime detained 5 people after finding posts glorifying the shooter’s actions. She said the bureau and police were on high alert for potential copycats.
The investigation also includes examination of emblems on the suspect’s clothing. Gałecka said on 9 November that specialists were continuing to analyze their motifs after partially examining and interpreting the patches.
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