By Alan Charlish and Marek Strzelecki
WARSAW, Nov 9 (Reuters) – Thousands of people took part in a silent march through Krakow on Monday evening along with Poland’s president and prime minister as the country tries to come to terms with an unprecedented mass shooting, in which a Polish man killed six people on the southern city’s main square.
Relations between Prime Minister Donald Tusk and President Karol Nawrocki are tense, but they appear to want a display of national unity over an incident that has shocked Poland and left rival political camps bitterly disputing the killer’s motives.
“For Poland, this is always a sign of hope: that while we may hold different views, we are still capable of cooperating, engaging in dialogue, and seeking out what unites us,” Deputy Prime Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz told TVN24.
“We are capable of showing solidarity during difficult times. Together, we can support those who need such support,” he added.
March participants followed part of the route the shooter drove while firing and lit memorial candles at the spots where people were killed on Saturday.
“Tonight in Cracow thousands of Poles gathered to pay tribute to the victims of November 7 attack,” Tusk wrote on X.
The suspected gunman died in hospital on Monday after being shot and arrested by police minutes after they said he opened fire from his car in Krakow’s historic main square, a popular tourist destination.
The government said the man, identified by prosecutors as 24-year-old Michal Oksinski from the southeastern town of Ostrowiec Swietokrzyski, may have been inspired by far-right ideology. But officials appeared to backtrack on Monday.
“Until the matter is fully clarified and the authorities are in possession of complete information, it is best to refrain from making comments, even if there are some initial indications,” government spokesperson Adam Szlapka told TVN24.
Both the shooter and his father held gun permits, and several firearms were found in the family apartment and the assailant’s car, prosecutors said.
The bodies of his father, mother and sister were found in their family home on Saturday, and officials say they were also likely killed by Oksinski.
DISPUTE OVER KILLER’S MOTIVES
The nationalist opposition rejected the suggestion of a far-right link to the killings, with Law and Justice party leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski saying those claims were a “blatant lie.”
National Prosecutor’s Office spokesperson Przemyslaw Nowak told a press conference that investigators did not yet know what motivated the killer.
He said that a yellow flag featuring a snake and the words “Don’t tread on me,” known as the Gadsden flag, was found in Oksinski’s room.
The Gadsden flag was first used during the American Revolution in the 18th century. Nowak said the flag was associated with “various meanings related to freedom or rebellion” but was not widely known as being linked to any form of extremism.
Interior Ministry spokesperson Karolina Galecka said there were many different emblems on the perpetrator’s clothing that had already been partially examined and interpreted.
Justice Minister Waldemar Zurek said despite the death of the shooter, the investigation would continue, and would aim to establish if he acted alone or was inspired by any group.
“Evidence is being collected, but I will not show or disclose it. I ask for restraint,” Zurek told Radio Zet.
Poland’s Central Bureau for Combating Cybercrime (CBZC) said it had detained five Polish citizens and one Ukrainian who had posted threatening or alarming content online following the attack. It said the detainees were aged 15 to 36.
Galecka said the CBZC and the police were on high alert for potential copycats.
NATION IN SHOCK
Poland had never experienced such a mass shooting. Scenes of blood and bodies strewn across the historic heart of one of its main tourist attractions have shocked a nation that has long viewed itself as safer than Western European neighbours that have experienced similar attacks.
“A total of four firearms and several hundred rounds of ammunition were discovered in the vehicle and in the possession of Michal Oksinski,” Nowak said.
“We secured a very large number of spent casings. In total, at least several dozen shots were fired — possibly even several hundred.”
Nowak said the two police officers injured in the attack had regained consciousness.
Tusk wrote on X that when police officer Artur Moranski woke up, his first words were, “Is Kuba alive?” — referring to fellow injured officer Jakub Kulik.
The government will review regulations on requirements for people with gun permits following the tragedy, Zurek said.
(Reporting by Marek Strzelecki and Alan Charlish in Warsaw; Additional reporting by Anna Koper in Warsaw; Editing by Ros Russell, Timothy Heritage and Matthew Lewis)
