Level 1 — Absolute Beginner

On Saturday afternoon, a man started shooting in the city of Krakow, in Poland. It happened in the Main Square. This square is in the middle of the old city. Many people walk there every day.

At least five people are dead. More than ten other people are hurt. Ambulances came quickly. A helicopter came too. Doctors took the hurt people to hospitals.

Police say the man had a gun. He shot the gun from a car. The car was moving across the square. Then police shot the man. He is alive and he is in a hospital now.

Donald Tusk is the leader of Poland. He says the police are looking at all the facts. Nobody knows why the man did this. The police do not say his name yet.

a square

A big open space in a city, with buildings around it.

to shoot

To fire a gun.

a gun

A weapon that fires small pieces of metal very fast.

hurt

Having pain or damage in your body.

an ambulance

A special car that takes sick or hurt people to hospital.

police

The people whose job is to keep a city safe.

a leader

The person in charge of a country or a group.

a reason

Why someone does something.

Level 2 — Elementary

A man opened fire in the Main Market Square in Krakow, Poland, at about three o'clock on Saturday afternoon. The square is the heart of the old city and it is usually full of tourists, families and students. At least five people were killed and more than a dozen were wounded.

Local firefighters told Polsat News that the attacker fired a gun from a passing car. Witnesses described a dark car crossing the square before the shooting started. Ambulances and police cars filled the streets around St Mary's Basilica, and an air ambulance was sent to the scene.

Police said in a short statement that the attacker was shot by officers and was being taken to hospital. They have not given his name or his age, and they have not said what kind of gun he used. No group has claimed responsibility.

Prime Minister Donald Tusk said the interior minister was keeping him informed and that officers were examining the background of the attack. President Karol Nawrocki said he was gravely concerned and sent the head of the National Security Bureau to Krakow. Early reports in a story like this often change, so the numbers may still move.

to open fire

To start shooting.

wounded

Hurt by a weapon.

a witness

A person who sees something happen.

an air ambulance

A helicopter that carries badly hurt people to hospital.

a statement

An official message that gives information.

to claim responsibility

To say publicly that you did something.

the interior minister

The government member in charge of police and public safety.

the scene

The place where something important happened.

Level 3 — Intermediate

At least five people were killed and more than a dozen wounded when a man opened fire in Krakow's Main Market Square on Saturday afternoon, turning one of Europe's most visited public spaces into a crime scene within minutes. Rynek Glowny is the largest medieval square on the continent, and on a November weekend it would normally be crowded with shoppers, street musicians and visitors photographing the Cloth Hall.

The sequence of events is still being pieced together. A spokesperson for the local fire service told the broadcaster Polsat News that the attacker fired from a moving car. Several witnesses posted video of a dark vehicle crossing the square, and some described the man as wearing military style clothing, a vest and a helmet, although officials have not confirmed that description. Police said only that the perpetrator was shot by officers and was being transported to hospital.

Prime Minister Donald Tusk, writing shortly after the shooting, said he was being kept regularly informed by the interior minister and that the police were examining the background and all the circumstances of the attack. President Karol Nawrocki said his thoughts were with the victims, those injured and their families, and announced that the head of the National Security Bureau was travelling to the city. Emergency teams were also working on Dietla Street, several hundred metres from the square, though the connection has not been explained.

Officials have carefully avoided the word terrorism. Tusk called it an attack but said the motive was still under investigation, and no agency has published the suspect's identity or nationality. Injury figures from the first hours range from at least ten to more than thirteen, a normal feature of breaking coverage, when hospitals, police and news agencies are counting separately and in a hurry.

a perpetrator

The person who commits a crime.

a crime scene

The place where a crime happened, which police examine for evidence.

to piece together

To slowly work out what happened from small pieces of information.

medieval

Belonging to the period of European history between about 500 and 1500.

a motive

The reason why someone commits a crime.

a spokesperson

A person who speaks officially for an organization.

to confirm

To say officially that something is true.

an investigation

An official attempt to find out the facts about a crime.

Level 4 — Advanced

The square filled with sirens before most people in Krakow understood what had happened. By late afternoon on Saturday, Polish police had confirmed at least five dead and more than a dozen wounded after a man opened fire in Rynek Glowny, the vast medieval market square at the centre of a UNESCO listed old town that draws millions of visitors a year. The attack was over in minutes; the account of it will take far longer to settle.

What authorities have said is deliberately narrow. A police statement confirmed that the perpetrator was shot by officers and was being transported to hospital, and a local fire service spokesperson told Polsat News that the gunman had fired from a moving vehicle. Beyond that, the public record thins out quickly into witness video and social media description: a dark car crossing the square, a figure in what some observers called tactical clothing, a weapon that early posts identified as a rifle without official support. None of those details has been verified by the police, and the suspect's name, age and nationality remain unpublished.

The political response followed a familiar grammar of restraint. Prime Minister Donald Tusk said he was being kept regularly informed by the interior minister and that officers were examining the background and all the circumstances of the attack, a formulation that acknowledges intent without committing the state to a classification. President Karol Nawrocki expressed concern for the victims and dispatched the head of the National Security Bureau to the city. Neither man used the word terrorism, and that absence is itself information: in Poland, as elsewhere, the designation carries legal and investigative consequences that prosecutors prefer to reach slowly.

Readers following the story through the evening should expect the figures to move. Injury counts in the first hours ranged from at least ten to more than thirteen, because hospitals, emergency services and news agencies were tallying independently under pressure. The questions that will define the aftermath are not yet answerable: whether the shooting was politically motivated, whether the gunman acted alone, and how a man reportedly equipped with body armour reached the busiest square in southern Poland on a Saturday afternoon without being stopped.

to settle

To become fixed or certain after a period of uncertainty.

tactical clothing

Military style gear such as vests, helmets and heavy boots.

to verify

To check that something is true using reliable evidence.

restraint

Deliberate self control in what one says or does.

a designation

An official label or classification given to something.

a prosecutor

A state lawyer who decides what charges to bring against a suspect.

to tally

To count a total, especially of separate items or reports.