Poland says Krakow shooting suspect was drawn to Anders Breivik and far-right material
Polish Justice Minister Waldemar Zurek said Tuesday that authorities examining the computer of Michal Oksinski, the 24-year-old accused in the Krakow mass shooting, found he had visited sites about Anders Breivik, the Norwegian neo-Nazi who killed 77 people in July 2011, and had taken a deep interest in international far-right movements. A search of Oksinski’s home turned up a Gadsen flag, which Zurek linked to American white nationalists. Police also found that he had recently bought 10 magazines for a semi-automatic rifle and 500 bullets. “It is clear that this individual was preparing to take action,” Zurek said.
Oksinski is thought to have shot and killed his mother, father, sister and two family cats in Ostrowiec on Friday night. Around 3 p.m. the next day he is suspected of opening fire in Krakow’s Main Market Square, killing six people — four Poles, one Austrian and one UK national — and wounding 15 others. Family members’ bodies were found in Ostrowiec after the Krakow attack. Poland observed two days of national mourning. Oksinski died Monday in hospital of wounds sustained during his arrest. Zurek said there was “very solid” evidence of far-right radicalization and psychiatric issues as motives. Members of the right-wing populist PiS party have accused Zurek and the centrist government of Prime Minister Donald Tusk of lying about those motives, sharpening a bitter feud in Warsaw.
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