The man behind the mass shooting in the historic centre of Kraków, southern Poland, has died in hospital, police have said.
The 24-year-old Polish national died at about 4.30am on November 9. He had been in a critical condition since officers shot him to end the attack and had undergone at least three operations, regional governor Krzysztof Jan Klęczar said.
Shortly after 3pm on November 7, the gunman drove onto the Main Market Square and opened fire on passers-by, initially from his car. Four women and two men were killed.
According to Klęczar, four of the dead were Polish, one was a British man and another an Austrian woman. Sixteen people were injured, among them two police officers as well as visitors from the UK, Austria, Germany, Portugal and Russia.
Police later found the bodies of the gunman’s 53-year-old father, 52-year-old mother and 21-year-old sister at the family flat in Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski, southeast Poland. Investigators believe he shot them before setting off for Kraków.
Identified in Polish media only as Michał O., in line with the country’s privacy laws, the suspect was a member of a sport shooting club. Police said he had no criminal record, held a firearms licence and probably used one of his legally owned weapons.
Poland’s National Prosecutor’s Office has opened an investigation into murder and attempted murder, treating the attack as a terrorist offence. Prosecutors said the assault had been intended to seriously intimidate large numbers of people.
They added that the suspect’s death would not halt the inquiry, which would examine his motives. Prosecutor Eryk Stasielak said autopsies on all nine victims would begin on November 9 and could take about two days.
Interior minister Marcin Kierwiński said everything indicated the gunman had been drawn to radical, ultranationalist ideologies. Prime Minister Donald Tusk called the shooting an act of terrorism.
President Karol Nawrocki declared two days of national mourning for November 8 and 9, with Tusk’s backing. Kraków mayor Łukasz Gibała extended the city’s own period of mourning until November 11.
Pope Leo XIV sent a message to the archbishop of Kraków, asking for the gift of Christian hope for grieving families. European Parliament President Roberta Metsola and EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas were among European leaders who condemned the attack.
Poland had until now been largely spared terrorist violence. In December 2025, though, a 19-year-old student was arrested for allegedly plotting an Islamic State-inspired attack on a Christmas market and Kraków installed concrete barriers around its market square for the first time.
