These things just don't happen in Poland...or they didn't.

On Saturday afternoons, the square in what the New York Times calls 'the medieval heart' of Krakow - its market square- is packed. As any of you who've been to Europe know, those ancient town centers are still often the beating social heart of a European city, large or small, and especially in a country that still cleaves close to tradition, as Poland does.

At around 3 PM, a small dark car drove into the square, and gunfire began to erupt at the random strollers in the convivial crowds.

Panic ensued as fellow Poles rushed to leave the area, running for cover inside the stores surrounding the square...

 ...as others, tragically, dropped to the ground, mortally wounded.

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...Just after 3 p.m. on Saturday, shots were heard across the market square in Krakow’s Old Town, the police said.

The gunman fired “at random people” from a car he had driven into the square, the police said. The square, Rynek Glowny, is one of Poland’s most-visited tourist destinations. On Saturday afternoon, it was busy.

Callum Scott, a British tourist who was in Krakow for the weekend, told The New York Times that people started rushing and “screaming in panic.”

Mr. Scott, 24, said he joined a crowd “sheltering shoulder to shoulder” in a hotel lobby.

A fairytale location turned into a horror story.

Municipal guards were on the scene within what seemed like seconds, followed closely by police, who bingoed the gunman's vehicle and gave pursuit.

CAUTION: SOME OF THESE VIDEOS MAY BE DISTURBING

The gunman's vehicle continued its slow getaway, firing at bystanders even as he drove...

...until it inexplicably struck a parked white vehicle and spun sideways. The two young Polish police officers who were following closely behind pulled over. They immediately exited their car to confront the gunman, who begins firing as he comes around the front of his car (in the street on the right).

Both officers (on the left in black) are hit in sequence by multiple rounds and go down on the sidewalk. But the lead officer, even though he's hit himself, manages to get a good shot off as the gunman came around the front of the cars to presumably finish the two of them off. 

The madman, too, is dropped to the pavement.

It's all caught on grainy footage from what seems to be a floor above the street.

Somehow, in one of the most magnificent examples of pure guts I've ever seen, the wounded officer at the rear hauls himself to his feet, pulls his service revolver, and charges the gunman, hitting him multiple times, even as he lies in the street, before the officer sinks to his knees. 

Somehow the officer manages to use his radio before he collapses again from his wounds and the superhuman effort.

Police officer Artur Morański shot and brought down the terrorist. The gunman, armed with a rifle, first struck officer Jakub Kulik, who fell to the ground after being hit by several bullets. The terrorist then immediately attempted to target officer Artur Morański; an exchange of gunfire ensued, and both men fell to the ground. Officer Jakub Kulik, despite his earlier wounds, got back up, approached the terrorist, and exchanged fire with him, ultimately neutralizing the attacker.

That is a man right here.

The gunman, thanks to the amount of body armor he was wearing, was still alive.

When police went to his home, it turned out that 25-year-old Michał Oksiński had killed his family before heading to the square for more horror.

And the day's horrific carnage has been unfathomable to a country that rarely experiences any sort of mass violence.

...At least nine people are dead and at least 16 more injured, the police said.

Six were killed in the market square, two men and four women, the police said. A local official, Jan Kleczar, said all those killed there were Polish apart from one man, a British citizen, and one woman.

Three people were found dead in the suspect’s house in Ostrowiec Swietokrzyski before 10 p.m. on Saturday, the police said on Sunday. The police identified them as the suspect’s father, 53, his mother, 51; and his sister, 21.

The police said that these victims’ injuries were initially assessed as gunshot wounds and that officers had found seven firearms in the apartment.

At least 16 other people were wounded in the market square, the police said. Two were officers, one of whom was in “a very critical condition,” the interior minister, Marcin Kierwinski, said on Saturday. He said that officer had been shot three times.

Several of those injured belonged to Krakow’s association of horse-drawn carriage drivers, Dorota Litwicka, its president, said on social media. “Two are fighting for their lives, several have suffered serious injuries,” she said.

Five of those wounded were foreigners, the police said.

There is also growing anger about the Tusk government's immediate response to the attacks, blaming the violence on a young man's fascination with 'far-right ideologies.'

Well - SURPRISE! - it turns out not so fast with that, maybe, huh?

Besides wearing nail polish, he liked rainbow flags, going to Antifa marches, and had posters cracking on St. John Paul II.

...Oksiński's social media posts are inconsistent. They seem to have included anti-Catholic and pro-Communist posts, as well as manga and animé type posts, as well as Falanga imagery.

He allegedly attended the 2020 pro-abortion protests in Poland, the "All-Poland Women’s Strike."

In one of the images pulled from his Facebook account before it was deleted his caption was, "A photo bathed in the red light of communism-simply delightful."...

The Antifa and gay killer  from Kraków, leading a demonstration in support of the mass arrival of illegal immigrants 

But @donaldtusk is selling us the idea that he was far-right

The government is now backing away from the 'far-right' label, insisting the minister had only meant it as speculation, not assertion.

But that's conveniently gone around the world as the government's assessment already.

In good news, the two heroic cops are hopefully on the mend. It's going to be a long road to recovery for them.

The gunman is dead, having expired at the hospital last night.

That's a shame. 

It would be nice to know the truth.