UN Secretary-General António Guterres said he was “deeply shocked and saddened” by the mass killing in Krakow. His reaction came a day after the shooting in the central square of the Polish city, in which six people were killed and 15 were injured.
In a statement issued by the Secretary-General’s spokesperson, Guterres condemned the attack and expressed his condolences to the victims’ relatives. He wished the injured a speedy recovery and expressed the UN’s solidarity with the people and authorities of Poland.
The shooting began in the afternoon of November 7 in the area of the Main Market Square, one of the most visited places in Krakow. According to Polish authorities, a man opened fire from a vehicle at people in the square. Four women and two men were killed, while two police officers were among the injured. The attacker was shot when law enforcement officers intervened and was taken to hospital in critical condition.
Poland’s defense minister described what happened as an “act of terror.” The prosecutor’s office launched an investigation into the murder and attempted murder of multiple people, while also examining the possibility that the incident was a terrorist crime. According to the authorities, the suspect is a 24-year-old Polish man who has been found to hold extreme nationalist and far-right views. It has not yet been established whether his ideology was the immediate motive for the attack.
The bodies of three of the suspect’s relatives were found in a separate residence linked to him. Polish investigators are examining whether their deaths are connected to the attack in Krakow and when exactly they occurred. So far, the prosecutor’s office has not reported any proven involvement by other individuals.
Poland declared two days of national mourning. Krakow’s Main Square remained temporarily closed for additional inspections and the collection of evidence, while police continued to establish the sequence of the attack, the origin of the weapons and the suspect’s motives.
Sources: apnews.com, abcnews.com