Krakow Witnesses Describe Deadly Mass Shooting that Shocks the City

KRAKOW, Poland — Tourists and locals witnessed a deadly mass shooting in Krakow, Poland, over the weekend, resulting in six deaths and 15 injuries.

Poland’s second‑largest city entered a period of mourning after a 24‑year‑old man with extremist, far‑right views opened fire in the Main Square, a prominent tourist area, on Saturday afternoon. The shooter remains in serious condition and is also believed to have killed his sister and parents at his family residence.

Witnesses described the assault as surreal, likening it to a scene from a film. Polish officials, visitors, and residents praised the police officers who confronted and wounded the attacker.

Here’s a look at what the witnesses and others said:

— “We literally ran for our lives and managed to hide from the bullets flying around,” Marie-Ange Collaer, a visitor from Brussels, wrote on Facebook. “Lying on the floor in a shop like in a bad police movie whilst you hear bullets everywhere.”

— “We had just walked through the main square and heard the gunshots,” U.K. resident Neil Thaxton wrote on Facebook. “We thought it was fireworks then people started running, we went into a gift shop and the staff took us in the back of the shop and locked the doors and turned the lights off.”

— “In the face of the tragedy in Krakow, we saw the best in people: the courage of police officers, the dedication of paramedics, and the selfless help of ordinary people who rushed to save others,” Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk wrote on X. “We are all deeply grateful to them.”

— “I feel very sad that this happened,” American tourist Marylin Green told The Associated Press. “It’s a beautiful city. Very sad. We just came from Warsaw; I’ve never been to Poland before. I’m Polish, my parents were from here. I loved Warsaw. So I was really looking forward to coming here, too.”

— “It just feels like a movie scene. It doesn’t feel real,” British tourist Andy Hill told the BBC. “And the trouble is, you have such an instantaneous moment to make a decision: Run. Stand still. There’s an element of shock. But I just thought the easiest thing to do is dive through a doorway and just take refuge behind the windows.”

— “We saw the shooter when they picked him up with the ambulance. And then we couldn’t enter our home for five hours,” Alexandros Maronitis, a tourist from Greece, told the AP. “So, we’re a bit afraid. It’s our first time in Poland. We heard it’s a safe country.”

— “We were panicking. Coming from Australia we thought it was a very safe country,” Melbourne resident Elisabeth Borcek told the AP. “But we just didn’t know what to expect. We could see people running, we could hear gunshots. And we could hear the helicopter.”

— “In such a moment, we must all stay together,” Krakow mayor Łukasz Gibała said in a video posted to social media. “The violence won’t change what kind of city we are: Proud, welcoming and open. The square will belong to us all once again.”

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