A surgeon who was dining near the scene of the Krakow shooting rushed to treat the wounded and, according to a colleague, played a decisive role in saving a police officer’s life. The two doctors were eating near the city’s Main Market Square on Saturday when a gunman opened fire at random, killing six people and injuring 15.
Professor Michal Pędziwiatr, head of General, Oncological, Metabolic and Emergency Surgery at the University Hospital in Krakow, was lunching with his colleague Dr Mateusz Wierdak and their families when they heard shots. He told the BBC that he and Wierdak went straight into the area where the attack was unfolding to begin rescue efforts, because no ambulances or professionals were yet on hand.
Pędziwiatr said Wierdak used his hand to stem the bleeding from the most seriously hurt policeman, keeping the officer stable until an ambulance arrived and took him to hospital. He credited his colleague with undoubtedly saving the officer’s life.
The two officers shot while subduing the attacker were named as senior constables Jakub Kulik and Artur Morański. Both emerged from comas on Sunday. Poland’s prime minister had earlier called them true heroes for preventing further deaths, and the mayor of Krakow said he had submitted an urgent request for them to be awarded honorary citizenship of the city.
The doctors also treated the suspected attacker, who remains in a critical condition. Pędziwiatr said that once they learned one of those they had helped was the apparent perpetrator, it made no difference to their duty. As a doctor, he explained, it does not matter whether the patient is a victim or a suspect; deciding what to do with the man was not their task, and to them he was simply another severely injured person.
Investigation and victims
Prosecutors in Poland opened a terror investigation, with a unit specialising in terrorist offences taking the lead. Ministers had said the 24-year-old Polish suspect appeared to have been inspired by far-right ideologies. He was not a member of the Polish armed forces, despite wearing full military tactical gear and being described as carrying a military-grade weapon. Authorities have not named him.
A British national and an Austrian woman were among those killed, along with four Poles. When the suspect’s house was searched after the attack, the bodies of his parents and sister were found.
The attack began shortly before 15:00 local time (14:00 GMT) in the historic centre of the city. Footage showed the attacker’s vehicle speeding through the centre as people fled and gunfire rang out. Bullets shattered shop windows and a tram was shot at during the roughly three-minute attack, according to police.
Witness accounts and outside help
Witnesses near the square described panic and confusion. Ruby Catherine Warren, visiting from London, heard gunfire and shouted at her friends to run; unsure where the gunman was or whether there was more than one, they kept sprinting until they found a hotel to hide in. Tom Brook, from West Yorkshire, was inside a McDonald’s near the square when he heard multiple shots and saw people running for cover. He later saw paramedics working on someone outside a shop and a body covered in foil blankets about 20 metres away.
Six Dublin Civil Defence volunteers also assisted in the aftermath. James McConnell told RTE News that the group was on a city break and close to the main square when the shooting happened. The volunteers, trained to provide medical care, gave CPR and haemorrhage control to injured people.
Main Market Square reopened on Sunday evening after a security cordon was lifted, as investigations continued in central Krakow.
