Polish leaders set differences aside to lead thousands on march for Krakow victims

Poland’s squabbling political leaders put aside their differences, at least for an evening, to jointly lead a silent march through the streets of Krakow two days after a killing spree in the city left the nation in shock.

President Karol Nawrocki and prime minister Donald Tusk walked and prayed together late on Monday as thousands quietly gathered on the city’s Main Square to commemorate the victims. A sole trumpet played The Sound of Silence from a church tower overlooking the historic district.

A 24-year-old Pole went on a rampage in Poland’s second-largest city on Saturday, shooting a semi-automatic rifle into the crowd. He killed six people and wounded more than a dozen. The assailant crashed his car and was apprehended after a shootout with the police. He died from gunshot wounds on Monday.

The killings shattered a sense of relative security enjoyed by Poles and came at a particularly tense moment for the country, which is being torn by deep political divisions between Tusk and his pro-European Union government and the nationalist opposition backed by Nawrocki.

Polish politics is growing febrile as the country heads into a general election late next year. Support for far-right fringe parties has increased, with a growing chance they could play the kingmaker role if the current ruling coalition falls short of a majority. The nationalists are due to hold their annual march in Warsaw on Wednesday.

Prosecutors are investigating the attack as a potential act of terrorism. Interior Minister Marcin Kierwinski on Sunday walked back his comments that the suspect was likely “fascinated by far-right ideology.” The authorities were still checking a number of possibilities, he said.

Police found the bodies of the shooter’s parents and younger sister at his home in Ostrowiec Swietokrzyski, a two-hour drive northeast of Krakow.

Police said the gunman, dressed in military gear and a bullet-proof vest, used an AR-15-type rifle and had additional weapons and ammunition in his vehicle. Such shootings are rare in Poland, which maintains relatively strict gun laws.

As the incident unfolded Saturday, witnesses described people running for cover in nearby restaurants and cafés as gunshots rang through the historic streets. Businesses in the Unesco World Heritage Site reopened on Monday and the Main Market Square was again filled with tourists.

Emilia Kasiarz (23) and Lukasz Rajda (24) a couple living in Krakow, laid red roses at a site where the rampage began on a cobblestone street leading to the square. “We can’t allow this individual to achieve his goal — which is to intimidate everyone,” Rajda said.

At Krakow’s indoor market on the main square, vendor Edyta Sek recalled how she initially thought the gunshots were firecrackers.

Moments later, “total chaos broke out,” she said. “We started packing things up and pulling down the security shutters. It all happened very quickly, and then there was silence.” – Bloomberg