After the Terror in Krakow

Classmate on the perpetrator: “He drew people hanging”

After an exchange of gunfire with the police, the attacker was shot by law enforcement officers and taken to the hospital with serious injuries.(Bild: Krone-Collage/EPA/Piotr Polak)

On Saturday afternoon, an armed lone gunman opened fire in Kraków’s bustling Main Market Square, killing six passersby and injuring several others, including an Austrian. After an exchange of gunfire with police, the seriously injured Michał O. (24) was arrested. Investigators discovered three more bodies—members of his family—in his apartment. A shocked classmate said of the perpetrator: “He drew people with weapons and corpses and wanted to become a bomber.”

Anger and horror prevail following the terrorist attack in the popular Polish tourist city of Kraków; flags are flying at half-mast. As more and more details from the investigation leak out, a former classmate paints a grim picture: She recounts disturbing experiences from their time together in school.

“I’m coming to school with a gun”
The woman recalls an art class. “In disturbing drawings, Michał depicted people who had been hanged or people with weapons. We asked him what exactly the drawings depicted, and he said it was an attack on the school, that there were bodies there, and that he would come to school with this gun,” she told “Radio Eska.”

Images from Kraków:

Class with a gas mask
When friends asked him about these scenes and the drawings, he reportedly replied that he wanted to become a “bomber.” However, they did not interpret this incident as a sign of an actual attack. On one occasion, Michał O. also logged into an online class wearing a gas mask. The rest of the family was described by neighbors as “calm” and “normal.”

Hintergrund und Fakten

Was am Samstag geschehen war

• Perpetrator Wore Camouflage Clothing: Around 3:00 p.m., the perpetrator opened fire on passersby from a vehicle in the bustling Main Market Square (Rynek Główny) using a weapon resembling an AR-15 assault rifle. He is said to have been wearing camouflage clothing and a helmet.

• Tourists were also shot:Six people (four women and two men) diedinthe market square. At least 15 others were injured, 12 of them seriously or critically. Some are from abroad, including Germany, Austria, the United Kingdom, Portugal, and Russia. On Sunday morning, according to the news portal “onet,” law enforcement announced that “all those injured in the attack are expected to survive.”
• Call for blood donations: Among the injured are two police officers who heroically confronted the shooter, including a former soldier of the 6th Airborne Brigade named Jakub Kulik. Both were seriously wounded and have already undergone surgery; their condition is said to have “improved slightly.” An urgent appeal for blood donations is currently underway for Kulik, who requires the relatively rare AB Rh+ blood type.

• Operation within three minutes: Three minutes after the first emergency call,the perpetrator was shot by police officers who rushed to the scene and was taken to the hospital with serious injuries. According to Interior Minister Marcin Kierwiński, he is in “life-threatening condition.”
• Downtown cordoned off: Parts of downtown will remain closed off for checks on Sunday as well, and cars still need to be towed.

• More Dead Foundin Apartment: During the subsequent search of the suspect’s apartment, emergency responders (using drones) discovered three more bodies (two women and one man) at . According to the spokesperson for the police headquarters, Inspector Andrzej Fijołek, the victims are the parents (53 and 52) and the sister (21) of the attacker.
• Two Days of National Mourning: Two days of national mourning were declaredin Poland. Prime Minister Donald Tusk traveled to Kraków in person and called on all political camps not to exploit the tragedy for partisan political gain. 
• A Thousand Officers on Duty: A total of 1,100 police officers are reported to have been on duty in Kraków on Saturday in connection with the shooting.

• Father owned eleven weapons: Michał O. is said to have acted alone and to have been influenced by “far-right” and “ultranationalist” ideologies. Additional firearms and ammunition were found in his car. His father, a sport shooter, is said to have held an official permit to own at least eleven different models. Seven of them were seized from the apartment.

• Still at the soccer stadium on Friday: According to the newspaper “Echo Dnia,” the perpetrator completed training at the Center for Vocational and Continuing Education in Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski—about two hours from Kraków. He is also said to have watched a soccer derby at the stadium on Friday.