Krakow: The gunfire broke out in the middle of the day, in the square where tourists stand to photograph the cloth hall.
Six people were killed and at least 15 injured when a 25-year-old Polish citizen drove onto Main Market Square in Poland's second-largest city shortly before 3pm local time (6:30pm IST) on Saturday and fired at random at people from his car. Police said the attack lasted about three minutes.
The gunman wore military-style clothing and a bulletproof vest and used a long weapon. More firearms and a large quantity of ammunition were found in his vehicle. He was shot and wounded in an exchange with police a short distance away, taken into custody and then to hospital. One police officer was critically injured.
Poland's police chief said the dead were four women and two men: three Polish women, one British national and two people not yet identified. Among the injured were two police officers and five foreign nationals, from Britain, Austria, Russia, Germany and Portugal.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk said three more bodies, two women and a man, were found when officers searched the suspect's home, and that there was much to suggest they were his immediate family. "Until now in Poland we have not had such drastic cases of terrorism," Tusk said. "That is what we have to call this cruel attack on people's lives here in Krakow."
Interior Minister Marcin Kierwinski said everything indicated the suspect was inspired by far-right ideology and held "very radical" and "ultra-nationalist" views, adding that this needed verification. Defence Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz called the attack an "act of terror".
Authorities said the attacker was not a soldier and that there is one suspect at this stage. They are investigating where the weapons came from and whether he held a licence, with one line of inquiry looking at guns kept at family homes. Tusk said he was convinced possible supporters of the perpetrator would be detained quickly.
Krakow has declared a period of mourning until November 11. Poland had been on high alert since a series of stabbings in October.