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Professor Michał Pędziwiatr told Polish outlet Fakt that he and Dr Mateusz Wierdak had been having lunch with their families in central Krakow when his son alerted them to gunfire and people falling in the street. The pair sheltered briefly in a nearby pharmacy before rushing to assist once the shooting ceased at the intersection of Dietla and Stradomska streets, where they encountered two wounded police officers, the suspect and a passing driver. Pędziwiatr said Wierdak immediately focused on one officer with a severe chest wound, using bandages from police first-aid kits to pack the injury while pushing his hands inside to stem massive bleeding and covering the victim with his own coat to combat hypothermia. According to Pędziwiatr, the officer would not have survived the delay in ambulance arrival without this intervention. The University Hospital in Krakow confirmed the surgeons’ presence at the scene purely by chance.
Pędziwiatr coordinated transport for the most critically injured officer to the John Paul II Hospital’s Department of Thoracic and Cardiac Surgery, where specialists could best address the chest trauma, while he himself treated the suspect and other victims. He told Gazeta Krakowska that medical personnel do not differentiate between attacker and victims when saving lives, adding that the suspect remained conscious and complained of pain from wounds to his abdomen, thigh and chest. A driver caught in the crossfire suffered a serious head injury and also received attention from those at the scene. Polish media including RMF24 reported that additional bystanders, such as a nurse and six volunteers from Dublin Civil Defence on a tourist trip, joined in providing aid until emergency services arrived roughly 15 minutes later.
The shooting began when a 24-year-old Polish man drove into Krakow’s Main Market Square and opened fire at random from his car, according to accounts compiled by The Guardian and TVP World. Police responded to the first emergency call in just 23 seconds and pursued the suspect, leading to a crash and exchange of gunfire at the nearby intersection where the officers were wounded. Senior Police Constables Jakub Kulik, a former paratrooper and volunteer firefighter, and Artur Morański, both under 30, have been hailed as heroes for their actions that prevented further casualties, with Kulik subduing the attacker despite being shot three times. Prime Minister Donald Tusk posted on X that the officers probably saved many lives while disregarding the risk to their own, a sentiment echoed by Justice Minister Waldemar Żurek.
The suspect, who wore military-style clothing and a bulletproof vest, remained in critical but stable condition after multiple surgeries as of November 8, a spokesperson for the Małopolska Provincial Police Headquarters told Reuters. Three additional bodies identified as the suspect’s parents and sister were later found in his apartment, bringing the death toll to six. A national appeal for blood donors was issued to support the injured officers, both of whom underwent surgery and were reported in stable condition by authorities. The prosecutor’s office has opened an investigation into an act of a terrorist nature, with the attack believed to have been inspired by far-right ideologies though the suspect had no prior criminal record and only static shooting training.
Pędziwiatr, who heads the department of general, oncological, metabolic and emergency surgery at the University Hospital in Krakow, later operated on other victims from the attack, local outlets reported. He emphasised in remarks to multiple Polish publications that the rapid response by officers and bystanders, combined with the surgeons’ presence, helped mitigate what could have been an even higher toll in a country where mass shootings remain rare. The two surgeons appeared at a subsequent press conference to recount their experiences, underscoring how the incident unfolded in what one described as the eye of the cyclone while their families remained nearby.
