Gunfire in Kraków’s main square leaves at least five dead

Authorities said the attacker drove into the busy city-centre square and fired at people at random. A suspect was arrested after being shot by police and taken to hospital in custody. Police had not publicly identified the person.

Two police officers were among the injured, fire department spokesperson Hubert Ciepły said. Emergency crews, including an air ambulance, were sent to the scene, and fire officials warned residents to stay away from the area while it remained a “hot zone”.

The toll changed as authorities updated the scene. Earlier reports had put the number killed at two and the injured at 10 before police raised the figures, which is often how these episodes become legible: first in fragments, then in grim revisions.

What is established, from police statements carried by The Independent, is that the shooter was male, that he attacked one of Poland’s best-known public spaces, and that he was captured alive after being wounded. What is not established is motive, whether he acted alone, or any identifying detail that explains why this square became the target.

Polish prime minister Donald Tusk said on social media that police were investigating “the background and all the circumstances of the attack.”

Videos circulated online that appeared to show a man in tactical clothing being detained after the shooting. They remained unverified. Meanwhile the firmer facts were bad enough: a historic square full of ordinary foot traffic, then a car, gunfire and a casualty count still being assembled by responders on the ground.