Polish justice minister says Krakow shooter was influenced by far-right extremist material

Poland's justice minister Waldemar Zurek said the 24-year-old gunman who carried out a mass shooting in Krakow had accessed websites about Norwegian extremist Anders Breivik and possessed a Gadsden flag, a symbol now associated with white-nationalist groups.

Zurek noted that investigators retrieved the suspect's computer and found evidence of his interest in international far-right movements. A search of the suspect's home also uncovered a banner linked to the Gadsden flag and recent purchases of ten magazines for a semi-automatic rifle and 500 rounds of ammunition.

The attacks began on Friday night in the town of Ostrowiec, where the suspect is believed to have killed his mother, father, sister and two family cats. The following afternoon he opened fire in Krakow's Main Market Square, killing six people – four Poles, an Austrian and a Briton – and wounding 15 others. He later died of injuries sustained during his arrest.

Zurek described the evidence as "very solid" for far-right radicalisation combined with psychiatric issues as motives. He said the suspect was preparing to act. The centrist government of Prime Minister Donald Tusk has faced accusations from the right-wing Law and Justice (PiS) party that it is downplaying the suspect's motives.

Poland observed two days of national mourning following the attacks.