Thousands of people joined a silent march through central Krakow on Monday night in memory of the six people killed in Saturday’s mass shooting, led by Poland’s president and prime minister in a rare show of unity after the country’s deadliest attack in modern times.
The march began at 8pm on 9 November to the sound of the St Mary’s bugle call, at the corner of the Main Market Square and Slawkowska Street, where the first shots were fired, according to The Insight International, which published its account on 10 November. There were no speeches. Candles were lit at the three places where people were killed, a bugler played “The Sound of Silence” at the end, and a cardinal said a short prayer for the dead.
President Karol Nawrocki and Prime Minister Donald Tusk, bitter political rivals, led the crowd together, setting 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, and many carried flowers or candles to leave at shrines that now dot the cobblestones, one marking each spot where someone died, the BBC reported on 10 November.
Six dead, and the wounded officers honoured
The gunman, named by Polish media as 24-year-old Michal Oksinski, drove a vehicle into the Main Market Square on Saturday 7 November and opened fire with an automatic weapon, killing six people and wounding others. The victims were four Polish citizens, one British man and one Austrian woman, according to regional governor Krzysztof Jan Kleczar. The wounded count still varies — 15 according to the police, the governor and the BBC, and 16 in some other reports, including one account published on 10 November. This post uses 15, the police and governor figure.
Police shot the gunman during the attack. Critically injured, he did not regain consciousness and died in hospital early on Monday, at around 4.30am local time. Police also found the bodies of his parents and sister at the family home in Ostrowiec Swietokrzyski, about 200 kilometres from Krakow, and it is alleged that he shot them before driving south to continue the killing. The incident is being investigated as a terrorist attack.
Two police officers who stopped the attacker were honoured by the president. Senior Constables Artur Moranski and Jakub Kulik received the Officer’s Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta from President Nawrocki after neutralising the armed attacker, according to a 10 November account. Moranski, who was seriously wounded, has been extubated and has regained consciousness after an operation, while Kulik was also seriously wounded. A girl called Bianka left a card at the memorial to the officers that read: “Thank you Mr Policemen, get better soon.”
Mourning extended in Krakow
Monday was the last day of national mourning, which President Nawrocki had declared for 8 and 9 November. Krakow will continue its own period of mourning until 7pm on Wednesday 11 November, with public flags lowered to half-mast, black crepe draping municipal transport vehicles, and physical and online condolence books opened at City Hall, according to the same account. Citizens may continue signing the books until Wednesday evening.
One of the six victims has been identified as a Polish painter in her 50s, a mother of four, who was in town with friends for an exhibition opening, the BBC reported. A British citizen and an Austrian who died are yet to be named publicly. A Zara clothes shop in the square is still boarded up after bullets smashed the glass, and a local man in his 50s died just outside it. Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry expressed condolences on 10 November, one of a series of messages from governments abroad as Poland comes to terms with the attack.
Sources: The Insight International (10 Nov 2026); BBC via EuropeSays / GhanaSummary (10 Nov 2026); FrontPage Detectives (10 Nov 2026); AzerNews (10 Nov 2026); Leverage on Heroes Media (10 Nov 2026).
