Poland calls Krakow shooting rampage 'terrorist' attack

KRAKóW, POLAND:

Poland on Sunday launched a terrorism probe as mourners brought candles and flowers to Krakow's cordoned-off Main Market Square in tribute to six people killed by a gunman who authorities said was "fascinated by far-right ideologies".

The 24-year-old Polish man opened fire apparently at random Saturday in the historic centre of the country's second city, in what Prime Minister Donald Tusk called an act of "terrorism".

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the shootings, expressing "his deepest condolences to the families of the victims, as well as to the Government and people of Poland", his spokesman said in a statement Sunday.

A 32-year-old British man and a 51-year-old Austrian woman were among the dead, the Malopolska region's governor Krzysztof Kleczar told reporters. The four others killed were Polish.

Among the 15 wounded were nationals from Germany, Portugal and Russia, an interior ministry spokeswoman said.

Three more bodies were found at the suspect's home in Ostrowiec Swietokrzyski, around 150 kilometres (95 miles) northeast of Krakow. Police said they were his parents and his sister.

The gunman was wounded in a shootout with police and was in critical condition in hospital.

The National Prosecutor's Office said it had launched a terrorism investigation.

"I'm absolutely devastated," Weronika Filar, 27, a Krakow resident, told AFP on Sunday.

"It's one of the safest places on Earth, genuinely... I did not expect anything like this to happen to us," she said. "Our city will never be the same."

"We've heard of various incidents of this sort happening elsewhere in Europe," Krzysztof Stepien, a 28-year-old part-time city guide told AFP.

"Nothing like this has ever happened here, and I hope it never will again," Stepien said.

Two police officers were wounded as they chased the suspect, who was masked and dressed in military garb, including a bulletproof vest.

The man left his car at an intersection and started shooting at the officers with a semi-automatic rifle, according to police.

Social media images showed the two police officers firing at the gunman, with one managing to wound him despite his own injuries.

One police officer was in serious but stable condition, the interior ministry said, as quoted by PAP.

Police named him as "Jakub Kulik, who without hesitation confronted an armed attacker".

On Sunday, the usually busy site of the attack was sealed off with red-and-white tape.

Most of the souvenir shops, restaurants and cafes remained closed.