a Poland’s interior minister has condemned a complaint filed against a police officer who helped stop a gunman responsible for killing six people in Krakow, calling the accusations against him “baseless.” The complaint concerns Jakub Kulik, who, alongside fellow officer Artur Morański, confronted 24-year-old Michał Oksiński after he opened fire on random passersby in the area of Krakow's historic Main Market Square on Saturday. The attack at the popular tourist destination killed six people and injured 15 others, including the two officers. Both officers fired at the attacker, with Morański shooting him and bringing him to the ground. Kulik, despite being wounded himself, fired additional shots at the gunman, who died in hospital two days later. Polish news website Onet reported on Thursday that a complaint had been filed with prosecutors questioning whether Kulik's use of his firearm was lawful, as well as the circumstances surrounding the gunman's subsequent death. On Friday, Interior Minister Marcin Kierwiński hit back at the complainant on X, writing: "May you never find yourself in a situation where your only chance of survival depends on the courage of people like those you are baselessly accusing." "Gentlemen… Kuba, Artur… We are proud of you," he said, referring to the two officers. Complainant under scrutiny According to Onet, the complaint was filed by a Polish citizen living in London who wants prosecutors to investigate whether Kulik was justified in shooting the attacker and examine the circumstances of the gunman's subsequent death in hospital. The complainant's identity has not been officially confirmed, but Onet reported that the details provided in the complaint matched those of a man wanted by Polish police in connection with alleged fraud, driving under the influence and making criminal threats. What prosecutors say Prosecutor Eryk Stasielak confirmed to Onet that the complaint had been received and would be processed, but stressed that investigators had previously found no grounds to suspect wrongdoing by the officers. “We saw no reasonable suspicion of a crime in the actions of the police,” he said. The filing does not automatically mean a criminal investigation will be opened against Kulik. Prosecutors may decline to pursue the complaint if they determine that no crime was committed. Piotr Kosmaty, a senior prosecutor in Krakow, also defended the officer's actions, arguing that shooting an attacker lying on the ground could still be lawful if a weapon remained within his reach. “It does not matter whether the attacker is lying on the ground. If the weapon remained within the perpetrator's reach, there was a real possibility that he could use it, meaning there was an immediate threat to the lives of others, including police officers,” Kosmaty wrote on social media. ‘We will defend our heroes’ The officers have been widely hailed as heroes for their actions, with Prime Minister Donald Tusk praising their bravery and saying the swift response to the attack helped save many lives. Regional Governor Krzysztof Jan Klęczar also defended the officers, rejecting suggestions that they had acted improperly. “These are our heroes, and we will defend our heroes,” he said on Friday. Klęczar warned that any attempt to question their actions would be met with “firm resistance” from the authorities. President Karol Nawrocki visited both men in hospital on Monday and awarded them Officer's Crosses of the Order of Polonia Restituta, one of Poland's highest state honors. Each officer has also been granted a 100,000-złoty (€22,000) relief payment by police leadership. Both officers are now out of immediate danger but face lengthy rehabilitation. Investigators believe the gunman had earlier killed his parents and sister at their family home in the southeastern Polish town of Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski before traveling to Krakow. The attack, one of the deadliest mass shootings in Poland's recent history, prompted two days of national mourning.
