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A surgeon who treated victims in the immediate aftermath of the mass shooting that struck Krakow’s Main Market Square spoke to the BBC about the rapid response required on November 7. Professor Michal Pędziwiatr recounted how he and Dr Mateusz Wierdak were lunching with their families nearby when gunfire began according to the BBC report on the interview. The pair rushed to assist two wounded police officers and the 24-year-old suspect after the exchange of fire that ended the rampage Reuters reported from Polish authorities. Pędziwiatr told the BBC that medical training overrode any other consideration at the chaotic scene where six people had already been killed.
Polish prosecutors launched a terrorism investigation after the attack in which the suspect drove a car onto the square and fired an AR-15-style rifle at random the Guardian stated citing interior ministry officials. The gunman acted alone and held far-right ideological views according to multiple accounts from CNN and Euronews that drew on government briefings. Among the dead were four Polish nationals a British citizen and an Austrian woman while five foreigners from Britain Austria Germany Portugal and Russia numbered among the injured Wikipedia compiled from official releases. Three additional bodies believed to be the suspect’s parents and sister were found shot dead at his family home in Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski the prime minister’s office announced.
Pędziwiatr explained in the BBC interview that his son first alerted him to the shooting prompting the surgeons to shelter momentarily before running to the intersection where the final confrontation occurred. When it comes to saving lives it doesn’t matter who is who the professor said according to the BBC citing his earlier comments to Polish media. Wierdak focused on one officer with a chest wound covering him with a coat and using bandages to staunch bleeding in an intervention that Pędziwiatr described to the BBC as undoubtedly lifesaving given the delay before ambulances arrived. The second officer and the conscious suspect who sustained wounds to the abdomen thigh and chest received initial care from the doctors alongside police and another physician RMF24 detailed in its coverage.
The surgeons coordinated transport of the wounded to specialized hospitals directing one officer to the facility with thoracic surgery expertise to maximize survival chances according to accounts Pędziwiatr provided to Dziennik. All six Krakow hospitals mobilized extra staff on their off days resulting in more surgical teams than patients a development Wierdak highlighted during a news conference covered by Rynek Zdrowia. The response limited further loss of life in what authorities called a well-executed emergency operation following the shooting that also wounded the suspect now under guard in critical condition.
National mourning began across Poland for the victims of the November 7 attack that shattered the city’s reputation for safety as noted by Notes From Poland in its summary of events. The suspect a licensed firearm owner with no criminal record carried military-style clothing and additional weapons in his vehicle police told Reuters. Investigators continue examining materials recovered from the car and the family home to determine the full scope of planning behind the assault that lasted roughly 20 minutes from the initial drive onto the square.
Pędziwiatr and Wierdak both emphasized in statements to Polish outlets and the BBC that they acted as any trained medical professional would under the circumstances without viewing themselves as heroes. The doctors returned to University Hospital after the scene was secured to assist with incoming patients the hospital spokesperson confirmed to local reporters. Public tributes have focused on the two officers who confronted the gunman preventing a higher death toll in the popular tourist area.
