On November 7, Michał Oksiński, a 24-year-old Polish man, shot and killed his parents and sister, then opened fire on passersby in central Kraków. Six people were killed and 15 were injured. Police shot and wounded Oksiński, who later died at a hospital. Polish authorities have called the attack an act of terrorism, but the gunman’s motive remains unclear. Oksiński left no note or manifesto explaining why he carried out one of the deadliest mass killings in Poland’s modern history. Here’s what we know about the Kraków shooter.

Michał Oksiński, 24, was a lathe operator with a passion for shooting. He lived in Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski, a town of about 60,000 people some 200 kilometers (about 125 miles) from Kraków. After graduating from a technical school, he went to work at the Ostrowiec Refractory Materials Plant. His mother worked as a salesclerk, his father was an electrician, and his younger sister studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków. Oksiński had no criminal record and had never served in the military.

Both he and his father held gun permits. Oksiński had belonged to a shooting club since 2022, and in early 2026, as a club member, he received a permit to own two firearms: a rifle and a pistol. His father was licensed to keep nine other firearms. During the attack in Kraków, Oksiński was found with two pistols, two AR-15 rifles, and about 500 rounds of ammunition. He had clearly prepared for the shooting, and he apparently used both his own guns and his father’s.

Before the attack, Oksiński killed his family and their pets. In the apartment, investigators found the bodies of his father, Janusz, 53; his mother, Renata, 52; and his sister, Magdalena, 21. His father and sister were killed in their beds and his mother in the kitchen. All three were wearing sleepwear, and each had been shot twice in the head. Oksiński also shot and killed the family’s two cats. He may have used a silencer, which would explain why the neighbors heard nothing. He then took his father’s car and drove to Kraków. Why he chose Kraków is unknown.

One of the leading theories about the gunman’s motive is far-right extremism. On November 10, Polish Justice Minister Waldemar Żurek said that Oksiński had visited websites devoted to Anders Breivik, that a Gadsden flag hung in his home, and that markings found at his workplace also pointed to far-right extremism. Żurek said this supports the theory first put forward by Poland’s Interior Ministry, though it has not yet been conclusively proven.

In school, Oksiński drew scenes of attacks in a notebook. His former classmates said he was fairly withdrawn and sometimes sketched an attack on a school. They didn’t take it seriously, though they joked among themselves that Michał “will kill somebody someday.” At technical school, Oksiński had no behavioral problems. He kept to himself around his neighbors and often went out wearing a hood and a mask. His grandmother said he was shy and very attached to his mother.