Parents and sister of Krakow shooter found dead at his home
Three bodies found at the home of the 24-year-old Krakow shooter in Poland are his parents and sister. On Saturday he killed six people and wounded 16 in the city's market square.
The bodies of three people found at the home of the man who carried out a shooting in the centre of Krakow, a city in southern Poland, are his parents and his sister. Radio station RMF FM reported this on Sunday, citing police spokesman Andrzej Fijolek. Officials have described the attack as an act of terrorism.
What was found at the attacker's home
Police found the bodies on Saturday at the attacker's home in Ostrowiec Swietokrzyski, roughly a two-hour drive northeast of Krakow. Police later said the victims were his parents, aged 52 and 53, and his 21-year-old sister. They are believed to have been shot. Seven firearms were found in the apartment.
There was initial confusion over the attacker's age, with 24 and 25 both reported, but on Sunday it was confirmed that he is 24. Polish media have reported that he had no prior criminal record and was a member of a shooting club together with his father.
The attack in Krakow's market square
On Saturday the man drove his car into Krakow's busy market square and fired indiscriminately at passers-by. According to official figures, six people were killed and 16 injured, several of them seriously or critically. One of the dead is a British citizen. Among the 16 injured are five people from Austria, Russia, Britain, Portugal and Germany, as well as two police officers and the attacker himself, who is in hospital after surgery.
Krakow police spokeswoman Katarzyna Cislo said the attacker wore military-style clothing, a bulletproof vest and a mask, and used a military-type long gun, possibly an AR-15 rifle. Police found more firearms and a large amount of ammunition in his car. He kept firing at officers even after he had been shot, she said.
Motive and aftermath
The motive remains unclear. Interior Minister Marcin Kierwinski told a press conference that the man was fascinated by far-right ideologies and held highly radical views. President Karol Nawrocki declared two days of national mourning, on Sunday and Monday.
Mass shootings are uncommon in Poland. In mid-October, three attacks on schools took place within four days in the central part of the Masovian Voivodeship, in which attackers used knives or other sharp objects. Poland, with 37 million inhabitants, has about 411,000 people holding gun permits, and interest in keeping firearms is growing.
