image copyrightEPA
During the shooting in Krakow's central square on Saturday, two Polish surgeons happened to be near the scene of the attack. One of them told the BBC that they decided to provide medical assistance to the victims as quickly as possible, and among those they helped was the shooter, who was injured during his arrest (it became known on Monday that the shooter died in hospital).
At the time of the attack, which killed six people and injured 15, two doctors were walking down the street with their families after lunch near Main Market Square.
“We saw this shooting. What should a surgeon do in such a situation? We decided to help the victims as quickly as possible,” said one of the doctors, Professor Michal Pendziwiatr. “We ran to the area where there was shooting and started saving people. Because there were no ambulance teams there, there were no professionals.”
Pendziwiatr is a well-known surgeon in Poland, a professor at the Jagiellonian University, he heads the department of general, oncological, metabolic and emergency surgery at the University Hospital of Krakow. The second doctor's name is Mateusz Werdak, and he is also a famous surgeon in Poland.
According to Pendzivyatr, his colleague saved the life of one of the wounded police officers by stopping the bleeding. The doctor pressed his hand against the officer's wound, which helped reduce blood loss. Soon an ambulance arrived at the scene and the policeman was taken to the hospital.
They also assisted the man who opened fire in the square. The attacker received gunshot wounds during arrest.
“For us as doctors, it doesn’t matter whether it’s a victim or a suspect. It is not for us to decide what to do with this person. For us it was another seriously wounded victim, that’s all,” Pendzivyatr said.
On Sunday, two police officers who were injured during an arrest emerged from a coma. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk called them "true heroes" who prevented more people from dying. The mayor of Krakow said that police officers will be given the title of honorary citizens of the city.
Photo copyright: Reuters
The suspect was wearing a military tactical uniform at the time of the attack. He reportedly had a military-grade weapon. However, the Polish authorities stated that he was not a member of the Polish army.
Polish Interior Minister Marcin Kierwiński said “everything indicates” that the suspect was “involved in far-right ideologies” and held ultra-nationalist views.
On Monday, November 9, the Lesser Poland Voivodeship police reported that 24-year-old Michal O., who opened fire in the center of Krakow, died in hospital.
The attack in the center of Krakow took place in the middle of the day on Saturday. The suspect began shooting at passers-by from his car.
Authorities said the man may have carried out the attack as an adherent of far-right ideology. Later, a search was carried out in his house, during which the bodies of three people were found: his parents and sister.
Polish prosecutors are investigating the attack as a terrorist attack.
Polish Justice Minister Waldemar Zurek said a unit specializing in “terrorist crimes” was investigating. Zurek wrote in X that the Organized Crime and Corruption Unit is overseeing the investigation into “the murder of six people with a firearm and the attempted murder of numerous others.”
Those killed in the attack included four Poles, a British citizen and an Austrian citizen.
Chaos and panic
Six volunteers from Dublin Civil Defense were also reportedly involved in the response to the attack.
James McConnell, one of the group's members, told RTE News that they had come to Krakow on holiday and were near the main square when the shooting began.
Volunteers trained in medical care immediately rushed to help the victims, performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation and taking measures to stop the wounded's bleeding.
image copyrightGetty Images
Eyewitnesses who were near the Main Market say that at the time of the attack and after, panic and confusion reigned in the square.
Ruby Catherine Warren, a tourist from London, heard the gunshots and "shouted at her friends to run." “And we all ran for our lives,” she says.
Not knowing where the shooter was or whether he was alone, Ruby Katherine Warren said, they “kept running nonstop” until they finally reached a hotel where they were able to take refuge.
Tom Brooke, from West Yorkshire, was at a McDonald's restaurant near Main Market Square when he heard "several shots and saw people running for cover."
“Then I went out into the square and saw doctors treating a man near one of the shops, and about twenty meters away there was a body covered with rescue blankets,” he said.
Download the new BBC World Service app!
When you first open the app, select "BBC News Russian Service" and receive notifications about important news, analysis, videos and podcasts.
Important: The new app is not available in the UK and US.
Find out more
Video playlist
End Video playlist
