Polish unity on show in silent march to honour Krakow shooting victims

BySarah Rainsford Southern and Eastern Europe correspondent, Reporting fromKrakow.

Key points

• It's alleged that he shot them, before driving some 200km (125 miles) south to continue the killing in Krakow.
• The alleged gunman has been named as 24-year-old Michal Oksinski by local media.
• That's not responsible behaviour, Dr Pawel Musialek of the Jagiellonian University suggests, in a country where politics is highly – and often viciously – polarised.
• One of the six victims has been identified as a Polish painter in her 50s.
• Some have brought flowers, but a girl called Bianka has left a card that reads: "Thank you Mr Policemen, get better soon."

Thousands of individuals joined a silent march through central Krakow on Monday night, in memory of those killed and injured when a gunman went on a violent rampage at the weekend.

For context, the crowd were led by Poland's president and prime minister, the bitter political rivals putting on a rare show of unity after the country's deadliest attack in modern times.

As they reached the historic Market Square, a bugler played from the tower.

Plenty of residents were carrying flowers or candles to leave at the shrines that now dot the cobblestones, one marking each spot where someone died.

Fiercely proud of its reputation for safety, Poland has been profoundly shaken by this attack. It has left individuals struggling to produce some kind of sense of what happened.

Notably, the alleged gunman has been named as 24-year-old Michal Oksinski by local media.

Critically injured in a shoot-out with police, he did not regain consciousness and died in hospital early on Monday.

Initially, the interior minister asserted that Oksinski was driven by far-right, extremist views. The national prosecutor's office now notes that it's too shortly to say he was "inspired" by any ideology.

"The minister wanted to win domestic political points. That's not responsible behaviour, " Dr Pawel Musialek of the Jagiellonian University suggests, in a country where politics is highly – and often viciously – polarised.

"So far we've seen no clear message that this guy was strongly ideological, and that it's not more like something from the darknet."

There's been no mention of any letter or manifesto that Oksinski left. One neighbour informed Polish news site Onet that the 24-year-old was a "bit of a loner" but few who knew him well have spoken publicly. What we know so far after Krakow gun attack.

Along with his electronic devices like his phone, investigators are examining a number of badges that Oksinski had attached to his military-style outfit.

Notably, the prosecutor's office notes a yellow Gadsden flag with a coiled snake symbol was displayed in his bedroom. "It has various meanings of freedom and rebellion, " a spokesman emphasised. "Not necessarily negative."

It was at Oksinski's home that the bodies of his parents and sister were discovered.

Two days on, shops and cafes around the market square are beginning to fill up again, but the mood is subdued.

After bullets smashed the glass, a Zara clothes shop is still boarded up. A local man in his 50s died just outside.

Jo, a Scottish tourist, saw paramedics "who got there ridiculously fast", fighting to save him. "It was all pretty grim." Like plenty of, she initially mistook the rifle shots for fireworks.

On the opposite corner of the square, beside another cluster of flowers, individuals keep pausing to take pictures of the holes that were blasted into the wall by gunfire.

One of the six victims has been identified as a Polish painter in her 50s. This person was a mother of four, and in town with friends for an exhibition opening.

Notably, a British citizen and an Austrian who died are yet to be named publicly.

Meanwhile, a number of drivers of the horse-drawn carriages that are usually poised to trot tourists around the square were seriously injured.

Olha, who works in a nearby chocolate shop notes everyone is now nervous.

On Saturday, individuals rushed into her store to escape the gunman who was tearing around in his car, firing through the window.

Olha is Ukrainian, and moved to Krakow when Russia invaded. "We left our own country for safety. This is supposed to be a safe place!" she exclaimed.

"It's so sad, and so scary. Especially that he drove all the way here for two hours, planning this and thinking regarding it."

She regrets that the gunman did not survive: "So many are dead, so many lives have been ruined, and now there will be no justice."

When Oksinski's car was searched, four firearms and "hundreds of rounds of ammunition" were discovered, all owned legally by the alleged killer and his father.

Both were members of the Swit Starachowice sports club, where there is a shooting range. A spokesman recalls Michal Oksinski as unremarkable: average competition results and normal behaviour.

He had been just three times this year, most lately in August with his father. The club spokesman is adamant that it does not train combat firing, only shooting from a fixed point.

Gun ownership in Poland has grown considerably since war broke out in Ukraine just throughout the border, but this is the first mass shooting anyone here can remember.

As Michal Oksinski passed all of them, inevitably, it has brought scrutiny of the checks over who qualifies to handle such weapons, including psychological tests. On Monday, the administration unveiled an urgent review.

At the spot where Oksinski's car was intercepted and he was shot by police there is another memorial, this one in honour of the officers still in hospital.

For context, a couple of steps away, there's a series of bullet holes in the glass.

"This man was a real hero, he didn't hesitate, " Ania notes, referring to officer Jakub Kulik who was shot in the chest. His condition remains serious. "We're here to help him fight for his life."

"Nothing like this has never happened before, it's terrible, " a young man called Wojtek tells me.

He's only glad that the gunman responsible for such horror turned out to be Polish.

"People here are already against immigration, so that would have been even worse."

Taken together, the developments around polish unity on show in silent march to honour Krakow shooting victims point to a situation that is still moving, and the coming days should bring more clarity.