After Saturday’s attack on the Main Square in Kraków, a priest went up onto the roof of St. Barbara’s Church. Police officers intervened to rule out any possible threat, the press office of the Kraków City Police Headquarters told PAP on Tuesday.
On Saturday, a 24-year-old man drove a car into the Main Square in Kraków and opened fire with an automatic weapon at random passersby. Six people were killed and 16 were injured, including two police officers and the attacker, who was shot and detained by officers.
After the attack, while emergency services were working on the Main Square, an unknown person in a hood appeared on the roof of St. Barbara’s Church, where there is a terrace.
“Officers took this situation very seriously, especially in the context of the tragic events that had occurred earlier. (…) At that moment, it was not yet known whether the perpetrator had acted alone,” said Junior Aspirant Rafał Wawrzuta of the press office of the Kraków City Police Headquarters.
He said officers intervened with the person.
“It turned out to be a priest who had gone up onto the roof. He had no bad intentions. Sometimes human curiosity simply gets the better of common sense,” Wawrzuta said.
He stressed that in situations like the one on the Main Square in Kraków, people should follow the “4U” rule: “uważaj, uciekaj, ukryj się, udaremnij atak” (in English, roughly: be careful, flee, hide, thwart the attack; all four Polish words begin with “u”). That means, above all, looking out for yourself, escaping from the dangerous place and not returning to it, and hiding in a safe location. If that is not possible, he said, try to thwart the attack.
The 24-year-old attacker died in a hospital on Monday morning. Earlier, police officers had found the bodies of his parents and sister in his family’s home in Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski.
The investigation is being led by the Małopolska external division of the National Prosecutor’s Office.
Mourning continues in Kraków through Nov. 11, inclusive. From 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., people can sign a condolence book placed in the lobby of the Kraków City Hall on Plac Wszystkich Świętych. (PAP)
