Poland treats fatal mass shooting as 'terrorist offence'

Polish prosecutors say a mass shooting that killed six people and injured at least 15 others is being treated as an act "constituting a terrorist offence".

The attack, which Poland's defence minister described as an "act of terror," happened on Saturday, local time, in the Main Square in the heart of Krakow's Old Town.

The square is a major tourist hub in the country's second-largest city.

Four women and two men were killed in the shooting. Three of the women and one of the men were Polish, according to Malopolska regional governor Krzysztof Jan Klęczar.

A man from the United Kingdom and a woman from Austria were also among the dead, authorities said.

A video posted on social media showed a police officer repeatedly shooting the attacker, who was lying on the street. The officer later slowly collapsed to the ground.

The two police officers who stopped the gunman, in actions authorities hailed as heroic, remain in hospital. They were both conscious by Sunday afternoon.

The bodies of the assailant's sister, mother and father were also found at the man's family home in Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski, a city about 150 kilometres north-east of Krakow. They likely died from gunshot wounds.

The square reopened on Sunday evening, with mourners gathering to lay flowers and candles in honour of the victims.

Poland has entered two days of national mourning.

St. Mary's Trumpet Call, a traditional five-note melody which played every hour from the highest tower of St Mary's Basilica, was paused overnight — the first time the call had been missed since World War II.

Witnesses recall moments of chaos

Marie-Ange Collaer wrote on Facebook that she and her family survived the shooting during a trip to Krakow from Brussels.

"We literally ran for our lives and managed to hide from the bullets flying around," she wrote.

British resident Neil Thaxton and his wife also lived through the attack.

"We had just walked through the main square and heard the gunshots," he wrote on Facebook.

"We thought it was fireworks then people started running, we went into a gift shop and the staff took us in the back of the shop and locked the doors and turned the lights off."

Alexandros Maronitis, a tourist from Greece, told The Associated Press that he could not get back to his lodgings for five hours after the shooting.

"We saw the shooter when they picked him up with the ambulance," he said.

"So, we're a bit afraid. It's our first time in Poland. We heard it's a safe country."

Witness Andy Hill told the BBC he felt as though he was in a movie scene.

"It doesn't feel real," he said.

"And the trouble is, you have such an instantaneous moment to make a decision: Run. Stand still. There's an element of shock. But I just thought the easiest thing to do is dive through a doorway and just take refuge behind the windows."

Grim first for Poland

Poland's Interior Minister Marcin Kierwiński said the suspect held "very radical" and "ultranationalistic" views.

"Everything indicates that he was fascinated by far-right ideologies," he said at a news conference on Saturday.

Local officials in Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski said they seized seven weapons from the family home, bringing the total number recovered to 11, including four found on the suspect or in his car in Krakow.

Both father and son had gun permits, they said.

The suspect, a Polish citizen, remains in a critical condition after undergoing multiple surgeries.

There was confusion on Saturday about his age, with authorities first saying 24 and later 25. On Sunday they confirmed he was 24.

The suspect's dead sibling was a young artist studying at the Krakow Academy of Fine Arts.

"Nothing will ever be like before. The delicate tissue of our academic community was painfully wounded," the academy wrote in a statement on Sunday.

The academy confirmed Magdalena Oksińska was a third year student and that, additionally, the sister of an academy employee was shot twice.

"Magdalena Oksińska, 21 years old, a queer person, was an absolutely talented painter, photographer, poet and writer," architect Pavko Krajka wrote in a post on social media, accompanied by images of the artist's colourful paintings.

About 411,000 people hold gun permits in Poland, which has a population of 37 million, and interest in gun ownership has been rising.

The Swit shooting club in Starachowice, where the suspect is believed to have trained, issued a statement on Sunday saying it offered only "static shooting," which involves firing from a fixed position at a stationary target.

The club said the suspect "was never trained in our club in the areas of dynamic, tactical or combat shooting".

Mass shootings are uncommon in Poland, however, in mid-October three attacks at schools in the central province of Mazovia took place within four days, leaving one person dead and many injured, including children.

The Krakow shooter's military gear, guns and overall look were similar to those of other "extreme right lone actors" committing attacks around Europe, said Kacper Rekawek, a senior researcher at the International Center for Counterterrorism in The Hague.

"We have had attempts before, but now we can say that these kinds of attacks have become successful in Poland," he said.