KRAKOW, Poland: A shooting in the tourist heart of Poland’s second city of Krakow on Saturday left five people dead and around a dozen wounded, police told AFP.

“A man drove a car onto Krakow’s main square and began shooting at random people,” a Krakow police spokesman said.

“As a result of the incident, five people were killed and around a dozen others were wounded.”

He said the gunman was “neutralized and shot” by police officers and transported to hospital.

The police service for the Lesser Poland region said on X that police officers were among the wounded.

Prime Minister Donald Tusk confirmed the shooting following initial reports by local media which cited police and the fire department.

“I am being kept informed by the Minister of the Interior about the situation in Krakow following the tragic shooting,” he wrote on X, adding that “the police are investigating the background and all the circumstances of the attack.”

Justice Minister Waldemar Zurek wrote on X that “prosecutors, police and all the relevant services are already working at the scene.”

He vowed that authorities would “ensure that the perpetrator of this crime is held fully accountable and severely punished.”

Police did not immediately advance any potential motives for the gunman.

Shootings are rare in Poland, an EU and NATO member on the alliance’s eastern flank that neighbors Ukraine.

The country was on high alert following a series of stabbings in October, which Tusk at the time denounced as part of a “cult of violence.”

Warsaw, a staunch ally of Ukraine since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, has repeatedly warned of Russian sabotage and hybrid warfare on Polish soil, accusations rejected by Moscow.