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Plaza histórica europea de adoquines acordonada con vallas policiales al atardecer, sin personas
Plaza histórica europea acordonada al atardecer. Imagen generada.

Krakow Attacker Killed His Parents and Sister Before Shooting

The Krakow attacker, a young man aged 25, allegedly killed his father aged 53, his mother aged 52 and his sister aged 21 at their home in Ostrowiec…

--- The context --- Krakow is a medieval, tourist city whose Market Square draws large numbers of visitors. On Saturday, that calm was shattered by a shooting that left six dead and 16 wounded and that, as later became known, had extended earlier to the attacker's family home in another Polish city some 200 kilometers away. --- The facts --- At his home in Ostrowiec Swietokryski, police found the bodies, with gunshot wounds, of his father, aged 53, his mother, aged 52, and his sister, aged 21. Investigators suspect that the young man, aged 25 and identified as Michal Oksinski, killed his family before the attack on the square. He then drove his black car into the center and entered the square at three in the afternoon, firing at the crowd from the window. Of the six fatal victims, four women and two men, three are Polish, one is British and two lack confirmed nationalities. There were also 16 wounded, including two officers, the attacker and five foreigners from Austria, the United Kingdom, Germany, Portugal and Russia. A patrol car chased his vehicle, which crashed into another at the junction of Dietla and Stardomska. After the impact, dressed in military camouflage, he got out firing at the officers in an exchange that left all three wounded. He was neutralized three minutes after the massacre began. --- The positions --- Polish prime minister Donald Tusk defined what happened as an attack and described as heroes the two officers who chased the attacker, Jakub Kulik and Artur Moranski, one of them in critical condition after receiving three bullets. Interior minister Marcin Kierwinski explained that everything points to the suspect holding a far right ideology and being an ultranationalist. Mayor Lukasz Gibala decreed mourning until Wednesday. British prime minister Andy Burnham showed solidarity with the Polish people, and EU high representative Kaja Kallas held that it is a tragedy that will be felt beyond Poland. Zelenski, Merz and Macron also conveyed their condolences. --- What remains unknown --- Police, who cordoned off the square, continue investigating the causes. Despite the proximity of the Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination camps, the indiscriminate character of the attack suggests it had no antisemitic motive. It was reported that the attacker held a gun license and that he carried numerous weapons in his car that apparently belonged to his father. Although he wore a military campaign uniform, he was not a soldier, but a turner. --- Unanswered questions --- What led the young man to allegedly kill his family before heading to the square? How did he gather the weapons he carried in the car and that apparently belonged to his father? Will the investigation confirm the far right ideology that the interior minister attributes to him? --- EPM analysis --- The sequence deepens the picture: an alleged family crime and, hours later, shots at a crowd of tourists in Krakow. The neutralization within three minutes prevented a higher death toll. After the initial panic, some passersby returned to help the wounded and, apparently, two doctors treated the officers. 📌 EPM Take: In EPM's view, Krakow faces a double wound: that of a tourist square turned into the scene of a massacre and that of a family found dead at home before the shooting. The investigation must establish with evidence the full sequence, the origin of the weapons and the attacker's motive, without shortcuts or speculation. Meanwhile, the response of the officers who stopped him within three minutes and of those who returned to help the wounded marks the difference between horror and an even greater tragedy.
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