Tourists and locals recount fatal Krakow mass shooting that left Poland reeling

KRAKOW, Poland — Tourists and locals alike this weekend witnessed a mass shooting in Krakow, Poland, that left six people dead and 15 wounded.

The country’s second-largest city is in mourning after a 24-year-old man with far-right views opened fire in Main Square, a major tourist hub, Saturday afternoon. The gunman is in serious condition and also linked to the deaths of his sister and parents at his family home.

Witnesses in Krakow said the violent attack was so surreal, it felt like they were in a film. Polish leaders, visitors and locals praised police officers who shot 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.”

— “He took care of the officer who subdued the attacker because he truly needed urgent help," Krakow surgeon Michał Pędziwiatr told Polish news website onet about fellow surgeon Mateusz Wierdak. "Without protection, without gloves, he simply focused on the officer, stopping the bleeding in his chest. This probably saved his life.”

— “Magdalena Oksińska, 21 years old, a queer person, was an absolutely talented painter, photographer, poet and writer,” architect Pavko Krajka wrote about the gunman's slain sibling in a social media tribute. “Her death is a great loss for Krakow, Polish, European and queer culture.”

— “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.”

— “Nothing will ever be like before. The delicate tissue of our academic community was painfully wounded,” the Krakow Academy of Fine Arts wrote in a statement, confirming Oksińska's status as a third-year student. The sister of an employee of the academy was also shot twice in the violence.

— “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.”