Polish prosecutors have opened a terrorism investigation after a 24-year-old man opened fire in a busy market square in Kraków, killing six people and injuring 17. Authorities said the attack was probably inspired by far-right ideologies.
The national prosecutor's office said on social media that it had launched an investigation into "the killing of six people … using a firearm, and the attempted murder of many others, including police officers, this act constituting a terrorist offence."
Police said the suspect drove into the main square at about 3pm on Saturday at top speed. Wearing military-style fatigues and a bulletproof vest, he began shooting at random as he drove around the square. Police spokesperson Katarzyna Cisło described it as a "wild ride." He was wounded in an exchange of fire with police and taken to hospital, where he underwent surgery under heavy guard. Local media named him as Michal O.
Interior minister Marcin Kierwiński said the suspect was fascinated with far-right ideologies and held "very radical" and "ultra-nationalistic" views.
Police confirmed that three people found dead at the suspect's home in Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski, about 100 miles north-east of Kraków, were his father, 53, mother, 52, and sister, 21. Police said they had probably died of gunshot wounds.
Among the six people killed in Kraków were four women and two men. Polish police said one of the dead was a British citizen. Regional official Krzysztof Klęczar said the British victim was a 32-year-old man and that a 51-year-old Austrian woman was also killed. Three of the victims were Polish women. Five of the wounded are foreign nationals from Britain, Austria, Germany, Portugal and Russia. Two police officers were among the injured, one in serious condition.
Kraków authorities said the square and adjoining streets would remain closed for several hours. Two days of national mourning began on Sunday, and flags were lowered to half-mast across Poland.
Several school stabbings in October, which left one woman dead, were linked by officials to extremist content online, according to the report.