The perpetrator of the Krakow massacre is dead, Polish police announced.
Michal Oksinki, a 24-year-old Polish man, was seriously injured in clashes with officers who responded to the scene and died this morning in hospital.
"We inform you that the perpetrator of the tragic events died this morning in hospital," the police of the Lesser Poland Voivodeship (in the south of the country), of which Krakow - a major tourist destination in Poland - is the capital, reported on X.
The news was also confirmed by the head of the Lesser Poland Region, Krzysztof Klęczar, to TVN24. "At 4:30 a.m., the perpetrator of the attack died in one of Krakow's hospitals," Klęczar said. He added that "the conditions of the other injured—currently 15 are hospitalized in six Krakow hospitals—remain unchanged."
Six people were killed, among passers-by and tourists in the Market Square, and three more were found dead at home, 150 kilometers away: the attacker's 53-year-old father, his 52-year-old mother, and his 20-year-old sister. The Prosecutor's Office, which is investigating terrorism, is now trying to reconstruct the sequence of the murders and the motive .
In Ostrowiec Swietokrzyski, neighbors struggled to recognize the young man described in the newspapers as the man who lived in their building. "A normal, cheerful, quiet guy," one woman said. Another recalled his hood often pulled down over his face and his habit of wearing a mask: "He was a little scary," she said. Above all, his shared passion for guns stands out: on Sundays, neighbors would see them getting into their cars dressed in camouflage; they frequented the same shooting range. The young man had two registered guns, his father nine. Seven were seized from the home and four more at the scene of the massacre.
A former classmate told Radio Eska that Michal drew pictures of hangings and armed attacks in schools, depicting himself with a gun. "He said he wanted to become a murderer," she recalls. No one took him seriously. A former police negotiator, Dariusz Loranty, believes the sequence of murders indicates a premeditated act. Investigators are examining the young man's background and contacts, but have so far failed to establish any links to extremist organizations.
On Saturday, shortly after 3 p.m., Oksinski drove into Krakow's main square in a black Subaru, dressed in camouflage, with a helmet and bulletproof vest, and opened fire indiscriminately. He was stopped by two police officers, Jakub Kulik and Artur Moranski, who were both wounded in the exchange. The two officers were brought out of an induced coma after undergoing surgery; one remains in serious condition. A surgeon who was at a restaurant in the market square saved his life in the moments following the shooting.
(Unioneonline)