In a week when a Polish city was forced to confront a violence that began quietly in a family home, Justice Minister Waldemar Zurek has described a young man's search history, a flag, and a stockpile of ammunition as signs of deliberate preparation. The shooting in Krakow's Main Market Square, which killed six people and wounded fifteen, belongs to a long and grim pattern in which private grievance and borrowed ideology merge into public catastrophe. Yet the account remains in the minister's hands alone, its meaning contested in the same political arena where the wider question of who Poland i
Krakow Shooting Suspect Read Extensively on Breivik, Polish Minister Says Amid Partisan Dispute
Six people were killed (four Poles, one Austrian, one British national) and 15 wounded in Krakow, and the suspect's parents and sister were killed in Ostrowiec.
Six people died in the square; his family was already dead in Ostrowiec.
Mark
Let's start with what the minister actually said on Tuesday. What did investigators find?
Mimi
Zurek said they accessed Oksinski's computer and found he'd visited websites about Anders Breivik. At his home they found a Gadsden flag, and police traced a recent purchase of 10 magazines for a semi-automatic rifle and 500 bullets.
Mark
And the attacks themselves?
Mimi
Friday night in Ostrowiec, he's believed to have killed his mother, father, sister and two cats. Saturday around 3 p.m. he's suspected of firing in Krakow's Main Market Square. Six dead, 15 wounded.
Luke
I want to flag something. Everything about the computer, the flag and the ammunition comes from the justice minister. That's one official source, and it's a government under political attack.
Mimi
That's fair. The PiS party is accusing Zurek and Tusk's government of lying about motives.
Luke
Right, but we don't know what that accusation rests on. The reporting doesn't say which claims PiS disputes or what they offer instead.
Mark
Zurek used the phrase "very solid" evidence of far-right radicalization and psychiatric issues. Is that the same as a finding of motive?
Luke
No. It's his characterization of early investigative work. Nobody has independently confirmed it, and the psychiatric part has no detail at all.
Mimi
And Oksinski died Monday from wounds during his arrest, so there's no trial where it gets tested.
Mark
So what would change the picture?
Luke
Released material, or confirmation from prosecutors or other independent parties. Until then, the purchases and items are described, not shown.
Le Pouls
- A gunman's trail runs from a family killing in Ostrowiec to a crowded Krakow square, leaving six dead and fifteen wounded in its wake.
- Justice Minister Zurek points to Breivik-linked browsing, a Gadsden flag, and 500 rounds as evidence of planned violence.
- PiS politicians answer that the government is misrepresenting the motives, turning a crime scene into a partisan battleground.
- With the suspect dead from wounds sustained during his arrest, no trial will test the claims, leaving only the investigation to show what was found.
In a week when a Polish city was forced to confront a violence that began quietly in a family home, Justice Minister Waldemar Zurek has described a young man's search history, a flag, and a stockpile of ammunition as signs of deliberate preparation. The shooting in Krakow's Main Market Square, which killed six people and wounded fifteen, belongs to a long and grim pattern in which private grievance and borrowed ideology merge into public catastrophe. Yet the account remains in the minister's hands alone, its meaning contested in the same political arena where the wider question of who Poland is being asked to protect is always being argued.
On Tuesday, Poland's Justice Minister Waldemar Zurek gave the first public update on the weekend mass shooting in Krakow. He began with a computer belonging to the accused, 24-year-old Michal Oksinski, which investigators had accessed. It showed visits to websites about Anders Breivik, the Norwegian far-right killer, and a search of Oksinski's home turned up a Gadsden flag associated with American white nationalists, along with magazines and ammunition for a semi-automatic rifle. "It is clear that this individual was preparing to take action," Zurek said.
The violence started on Friday night in Ostrowiec, where Oksinski is believed to have killed his parents, his sister and the family's two cats. On Saturday afternoon he opened fire in Krakow's Main Market Square, killing six people, four Poles, one Austrian and one British national, and wounding fifteen more. Only after the Krakow attack were the family members found in Ostrowiec. Poland observed two days of national mourning. Oksinski was wounded during his arrest and died in hospital on Monday, so no trial will take place.
Zurek says early evidence points to far-right radicalization and psychiatric problems. Members of the PiS party have accused him and Prime Minister Donald Tusk's government of lying about the motives. The public so far has specific claims from a single official, but no independent confirmation of the radicalization or psychiatric findings. What comes next is whether investigators release more of what they found, and whether anyone outside the government can verify it.
On Tuesday, Poland's Justice Minister Waldemar Zurek gave an update on the investigation into the weekend mass shooting in Krakow, and the first thing he described was a computer. Authorities had gained access to the machine belonging to the accused gunman, 24-year-old Michal Oksinski. According to Zurek, it showed that Oksinski had visited websites about Anders Breivik, the Norwegian neo-Nazi who killed 77 people in July 2011.
Zurek said the interest was not confined to Breivik. Oksinski, he said, was deeply engaged with international far-right movements. A search of his home turned up a Gadsden flag, a banner that dates to the American Civil War era and is now associated with American white nationalists. Police also gathered evidence that he had recently bought 10 magazines for a semi-automatic rifle, along with 500 bullets. "It is clear that this individual was preparing to take action," the minister said.
The sequence of events began on Friday night in the city of Ostrowiec. Oksinski is believed to have shot and killed his mother, his father, his sister and the family's two cats. The following day, at about 3:00 p.m. local time, he is suspected of opening fire in Krakow's Main Market Square. Six people died: four Poles, one Austrian and one British national. Another 15 were wounded.
Only after the Krakow attack did authorities find the bodies of his family members in Ostrowiec. Poland then observed two days of national mourning. Oksinski himself was wounded during his arrest and died of those wounds in a local hospital on Monday, which means the case will not go to trial and the questions about him will be answered, if at all, through the investigation.
Zurek said the initial inquiry had produced what he called "very solid" evidence that far-right radicalization and psychiatric problems lay behind the attacks. That conclusion, though, has become a fight in Warsaw. Members of the right-wing populist PiS party have accused Zurek and Prime Minister Donald Tusk's centrist government of lying about Oksinski's motives.
The dispute leaves the public with a split picture. The items Zurek listed, the browsing history, the flag, the magazines and ammunition, are specific, but they are described by a government minister whose political opponents say he is misrepresenting them. The reporting so far does not include independent confirmation of the radicalization or psychiatric evidence, nor does it detail what the PiS accusation rests on.
What to watch next is whether investigators release more of what they found on Oksinski's computer and in his home, and whether anyone outside the government can verify it. The weight of the minister's claim, and of the political reaction to it, will depend on that evidence becoming visible.
Citations marquantes
It is clear that this individual was preparing to take action.— Waldemar Zurek, Polish Justice Minister
PiS members accuse Zurek and Tusk's government of lying about Oksinski's motives.— Paraphrase of right-wing PiS party members
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Crime & Justice