Husband Injured

Krakow Attacker Killed Mother of Two from Lower Austria

A 51-year-old woman from Lower Austria was killed in the shooting in Krakow. She is survived by two adult daughters; her husband was injured.(Bild: Krone-Collage/AFP/WOJTEK RADWANSKI, AP/Beata Zawrzel)

The news has sparked deep sorrow and disbelief in her hometown: The Austrian woman who lost her life in the bloody attack in Krakow was only 51 years old and came from the Marchfeld region in Lower Austria. Her husband was also injured in the attack, but fortunately his injuries are not life-threatening.

Gunshots, screams, fear of death! Horrific scenes unfolded on Kraków’s Main Market Square on Saturday afternoon. At 3:00 p.m., the gunman, Michał O. (24), dressed in military clothing, drove a car into the crowded square and opened fire indiscriminately. People ran for their lives in panic, fleeing into stores and restaurants. Right in the middle of it all: a couple on vacation from Lassee (Lower Austria). A mother of two (51) was fatally struck by the gunman’s bullets, and her husband was seriously injured. Four other Poles and one British national died.

State Governor Johanna Mikl-Leitner expressed her deep shock: “My thoughts are with the families and loved ones of the victims. I offer them my deepest sympathy. I sincerely wish the injured a speedy and full recovery. Terror and violence have no place in our society.”

Two police officers became heroes
Two young police officers (aged 23 and 27), both of whom had been on the force for only two years, stopped the gunman after a fierce exchange of gunfire. Both were seriously injured in the process, but they likely prevented even more deaths. Among the 16 injured are tourists from Portugal, Germany, the United Kingdom, and Russia, among others. The Disturbingly Dark World of the Kraków Killer: After the bloodbath, it came to light that O. had killed three more people shortly before—his own family.

In Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski, nearly 160 km away, where the perpetrator still lived, investigators discovered the shooter’s parents (52 and 53) and sister (21), all of whom had been shot to death. The art student had been visiting. The shooter himself is in critical condition in the hospital following surgery. The investigation is uncovering increasingly disturbing details about his past. Even as a student, the withdrawn loner drew school massacres, people on gallows, and swastikas. “Back then, we said he’d probably kill someone someday,” recalls a former classmate. During an online class, he once sat in front of the camera wearing a gas mask. Neighbors also describe him as taciturn, usually dressed in black, and with his hood pulled low over his face.

The shooter owned weapons legally
The trained metalworker was an avid sport shooter, trained regularly at a club, and also held an official gun permit. However, according to investigators, not his entire arsenal of weapons was legal. A total of eleven firearms were seized—including some for which neither he nor his father had a permit. His father, an electrician, had introduced him to the sport of shooting.

Specialists are now investigating the shooter’s far-right connections and online activities.