Krakow Surgeons: Street-side Treatment Saved Wounded Officer
Two doctors treated victims near Main Market Square after a gunman killed six and injured 15 in central Poland.
By Carlos Rousseau ·
A mass shooting unfolded in the historic center of Krakow, Poland, on Saturday afternoon.
Six people died and 15 others were injured when a gunman opened fire near the city's Main Market Square.
Professor Michal Pędziwiatr and Dr. Mateusz Wierdak were eating lunch with their families nearby.
Pędziwiatr heard his son run to him saying, 'Dad, they're shooting at people there, people are falling to the ground.'
The two surgeons rushed to the scene to treat the injured.
Dr. Wierdak attended to a police officer who had taken a shot to the chest while subduing the attacker.
Pędziwiatr described Wierdak's actions to local media outlet Fakt.
He stated that Wierdak 'stuffed all the bandages into [the police officer's] chest and stuck his hands in.'
Pędziwiatr added that without that immediate intervention, the outcome was uncertain due to the wait for an ambulance.
He noted that 'undoubtedly' the colleague saved the officer's life.
Meanwhile, Pędziwiatr called John Paul II Hospital.
He insisted they transfer the officer there because it housed the Department of Thoracic and Cardiac Surgery specialists best suited for that specific injury type while he managed the other victims and the shooter himself on the street, stating, 'When it comes to saving lives, it doesn't matter who is who.' The two officers, senior constables Jakub Kulik and Artur Morański, emerged from comas on Sunday. Poland's prime minister called the officers 'true heroes' for their actions. The mayor of Krakow submitted an urgent request to make the two men honorary citizens of the city. Prosecutors have launched a terror investigation into the attack. The 24-year-old Polish attacker remains in critical condition. Interior Minister Marcin Kierwiński said everything suggests the suspect was fascinated by far-right ideologies and held ultra-nationalist views. The attacker is not a member of the Polish armed forces, despite wearing military tactical gear and using a military-grade weapon during the roughly three-minute rampage. When police searched the suspect's house, they found the bodies of his parents and sister. Victims included four Poles, a British national, and an Austrian woman. Six Dublin Civil Defence volunteers also helped with CPR and hemorrhage control during the chaos. The Main Market Square reopened on Sunday evening after security lifted the cordon.
