The 24-year-old gunman who killed six people in Krakow’s Main Market Square on Saturday, November 7, 2026, died in hospital early on Monday, November 9, two days after police shot him. Malopolska police confirmed the death in a post on X, writing: “We would like to inform you that the perpetrator of the tragic events died in hospital early this morning.” The announcement closed one part of a terrible weekend for the city, but it did not close the investigation. Police and prosecutors have said the work to understand what happened, why it happened, and whether anyone else was involved will go on.
Quick Facts
| Detail | Fact |
|---|---|
| Who died in hospital | The 24-year-old gunman from Ostrowiec Swietokrzyski |
| Date of death | Early Monday, November 9, 2026 |
| Date of the attack | Saturday, November 7, 2026 |
| Place of the attack | Main Market Square, Krakow |
| Time the attack began | Around 3 p.m. local time on Saturday |
| People killed in the square | Six, four women and two men, including a Briton |
| People wounded | Reported as 15 to 17 in different reports |
| People found dead at the family home | Three, the gunman’s father, mother and sister |
| Total deaths including the gunman | Ten |
What Happened in the Main Market Square
The attack began around 3 p.m. local time on Saturday in the historic Main Market Square in Krakow. Police say the gunman was dressed in military-style clothing and a bulletproof vest. He drove through the square and opened fire with an automatic weapon from his car. People in the square had little time to react, and the first reports described panic as shots rang out and people ran for cover.
Police officers reached the scene fast and shot the gunman within minutes of the attack starting. That fast response almost certainly stopped the shooting from going on longer. The gunman was taken to hospital, where he remained through Saturday and Sunday before dying early on Monday morning. Police shot him within minutes, and that timing is central to the account of Saturday, because the shooting ended quickly even though six people had already been killed and many more had already been hurt. For the full account of Saturday, read our earlier report on the Krakow market square shooting that left six dead on November 7.
The Victims and the Wounded
Six people were killed in the square. Police have said the six were four women and two men, and that one of the dead was a Briton. No further personal details about the six victims in the square have been given in the verified facts for this report, and none are added here. The loss of six lives in a public square on a Saturday afternoon has shocked Krakow and Poland as a whole.
The number of wounded has been reported as 15 to 17 in different reports. This article states that range honestly and does not pick one number as certain, because the reports do not agree. Sixteen people, including five foreigners, two police officers and the attacker, were taken to hospital. Autopsies of the victims were scheduled to start on Monday, and prosecutors said the examination could take two days because of the complex gunshot wounds. That range in the reported number of wounded is a reminder that the full picture was still coming together in the first days after the attack, and that careful reporting means saying what is known and saying what is not yet certain. For the families of the six, the days ahead will be painful and slow as they wait for formal identification and for the results of the autopsies.
A Second Scene at the Family Home
Three more people, the gunman’s father, aged 53, mother, aged 52, and sister, aged 21, were found dead at his home in Ostrowiec Swietokrzyski, about 150 km northeast of Krakow. Police say the same man was responsible for both incidents. That finding connects the deaths in the family home to the shooting in Krakow and raises the total number of deaths linked to the gunman to ten, including the gunman himself.
His sister was Magdalena Oksinska, an artist and third-year student at the Jan Matejko Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow. The gunman worked as a turner, a machinist, after vocational training. Local media named the suspect as Michal O. and Michal Oksinski, but police have NOT officially released his name. This article therefore uses the name only as a name given in local media, and does not present it as police-confirmed.
The Investigation Continues
Polish prosecutors opened a terrorism investigation into the attack. Justice Minister Waldemar Zurek said the gunman’s acts make this a terrorist offence. The government said the attacker, a 24-year-old from Ostrowiec Swietokrzyski, may have been inspired by far-right ideology, without giving further details. That is the full extent of what officials have said about motive in the verified facts for this report, and this article does not go beyond it.
The prosecutor’s office said the perpetrator’s death does not halt the investigation into motives and possible connections. That point matters, because the gunman will never face trial and will never be questioned in court. Prosecutors and police still need to know how he planned the attack, where he got the weapon and the vest, whether he acted alone, and whether anyone else knew what he planned. The word may in the government’s statement is important. It signals that officials are looking at that possibility, not that they have proved it. Each part of that work takes time, and the autopsies alone are expected to take two days, so the next confirmed updates are likely to come step by step as prosecutors confirm each new finding, rather than all at once.
The Officers Who Stopped the Attack
The two police officers who stopped the gunman remain in hospital. Their actions in the first minutes of the attack brought the shooting to an end, and they were both hurt in the course of doing so. One of the officers emerged from a coma on Sunday afternoon. That is a hopeful sign, but both officers are still in hospital, and their recovery is not yet complete.
A blood appeal was launched for officer Jakub Kulik, who is fighting for his life. The two officers went towards the shooting in the square, confronted an armed man in military-style clothing and a bulletproof vest, and shot him within minutes of the attack starting. That fast action almost certainly saved lives, and their condition will be watched closely in Krakow in the days ahead.
FAQs
Who was the gunman who died in hospital on Monday?
He was a 24-year-old from Ostrowiec Swietokrzyski who worked as a turner, a machinist, after vocational training. Local media named him as Michal O. and Michal Oksinski, but police have not officially released his name, so this article does not present the name as police-confirmed. Police shot him within minutes of the attack starting, and he died in hospital early on Monday, November 9.
How many people died in total?
Ten people died in total, including the gunman. Six people were killed in the square in Krakow, four women and two men, including a Briton. Three more people, the gunman’s father, aged 53, mother, aged 52, and sister, aged 21, were found dead at his family home. The number of wounded is reported as 15 to 17 in different reports.
What happens to the investigation now that the gunman has died?
The investigation continues. The prosecutor’s office has said the perpetrator’s death does not halt the investigation into motives and possible connections. Polish prosecutors have opened a terrorism investigation, and Justice Minister Waldemar Zurek has said the gunman’s acts make this a terrorist offence. Investigators will keep working through the scene in the square, the family home, and the evidence from the autopsies.
How are the police officers who stopped the gunman?
The two police officers who stopped the gunman remain in hospital. One of them emerged from a coma on Sunday afternoon. A blood appeal was launched for officer Jakub Kulik, who is fighting for his life. No further detail on their condition is given in the verified facts for this report, and this article does not add any.
Sources
Final Thoughts
The death of the gunman in hospital early on Monday brings one part of this story to a close, but it leaves the most important parts still open. Six people are dead in Krakow’s Main Market Square. Three more people are dead at a family home in Ostrowiec Swietokrzyski. Families are grieving, wounded people are recovering in hospital, and two police officers who ran towards the shooting are still in hospital themselves.
The investigation will now do the slow and careful work of answering the questions that remain. Officials have opened a terrorism investigation, and they have said the gunman may have been inspired by far-right ideology, without giving further details. That is all that has been said so far, and it would be wrong to go further until prosecutors are ready to say more. This article will be updated as officials confirm more facts, and readers should look to those official updates for the next steps in the story. For readers following other major stories from the same weekend, our coverage also includes the report on Houthi missiles intercepted over Riyadh, with an Aramco building damaged on November 8 and the report on the Egypt train collision in Giza that killed seven on November 8.
