Polish leaders join thousands at silent march in Kraków for mass shooting victims

Tens of thousands of people joined a silent march in Kraków on Monday evening, led by Poland’s president and prime minister, in tribute to the victims of a mass shooting that shocked the country over the weekend.

They set off from the city’s historic market square, where the attack unfolded on Saturday afternoon. Mourners stopped at a flower-covered memorial marking the spot where the gunman opened fire from his car, killing six people and wounding 15 others.

Nationalist president Karol Nawrocki and the centrist prime minister, Donald Tusk – political rivals rarely seen side by side – led the crowd through the city alongside Kraków’s mayor, Lukasz Gibala.

“For Poland, this is always a sign of hope: that while we may hold different views, we are still capable of ⁠cooperating, engaging in dialogue, and seeking out what unites us,” deputy prime minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz told TVN24. “We are capable of showing solidarity during difficult times. Together, we can support those who need such support.”

A Polish man accused of carrying out the Kraków attack died in hospital on Monday, two days after he was critically wounded in a gunbattle with police, authorities said.

He had originally been linked to the far right but prosecutors said later that his reasons for killing nine people, including three family members, remained unclear.

The 24-year-old, dressed in military garb, allegedly opened fire with a semi-automatic rifle in Kraków’s main market square, killing six people. The bodies of his parents and a sister were found at the family home in another town.