The man accused of carrying out Poland's deadliest mass shooting since the fall of communism has died in hospital, two days after he was shot by police in Krakow's Main Market Square. Prosecutors say they still do not know what motivated him.

Michal Oksinski, 24, was declared dead at about 4.30am local time on Monday, 9 November, after three operations, regional authorities said. He had been critically wounded in a gunfight with police on Saturday afternoon, when he allegedly opened fire with a semi-automatic rifle from his car into crowds in the historic square.

Six killed in the square, three more found dead at home

Six people were killed in the attack in the Main Market Square, and more than a dozen were injured. The victims included four Polish nationals, one British national and one Austrian national, according to reports from the scene. Injured victims were treated at six hospitals in Krakow, and one police officer remained in critical condition.

Investigators later found three more bodies at the family home in Ostrowiec Swietokrzyski, in south-eastern Poland. Prosecutors said the three relatives, the gunman's parents and sister, had injuries consistent with gunshot wounds. That brings the number of people killed in connection with the case to nine, in addition to the gunman himself.

Police seized firearms and about 500 rounds of ammunition from the vehicle and the home used by the suspect. The National Prosecutor's Office said its investigation covers the six murders in Krakow, the attempted murders of others, the attack on police officers and the three killings in Ostrowiec Swietokrzyski.

Prosecutors: no ideology proved

Prime Minister Donald Tusk described the shooting as an act of terrorism, and the interior minister said at first that the attacker may have been inspired by far-right views. But at a press conference on Monday, prosecutors pushed back against that claim.

"We do not have findings that we could, in a responsible way, categorically state that he was inspired by any particular ideology," National Prosecutor's Office spokesman Przemyslaw Nowak said. He added that investigators had found no clear symbols linked to a specific political movement, whether far-right or far-left, although a yellow Gadsden flag was found in the suspect's room and its significance has not been established.

Justice Minister Waldemar Zurek said the investigation would continue despite the suspect's death, to establish whether he acted alone or was influenced by a group, and he announced a review of gun permit rules. The case remains classified under Poland's terrorism statute.

Disinformation wave reached 200 million views

The attack was followed within hours by a flood of false claims online. Poland's Digital Affairs Minister, Krzysztof Gawkowski, said his ministry's disinformation centre had flagged more than 2,000 accounts to the platforms in the first 24 hours, including automated accounts posting in several languages and dozens using Russian or with Russian links.

The most-viewed falsehood, the claim that the government staged the attack with the European Union's involvement, reached up to 200 million views. A false claim that the gunman was a soldier reached about 18 million views, even though the defence minister confirmed he never served. Another claim, that the attack was staged to justify banning the Independence March on 11 November, drew about 5.6 million views.

Gawkowski urged people to check information against official sources and to report suspicious material to CERT Polska. Thousands of people joined a silent march through Krakow on Monday to honour the victims, with President Karol Nawrocki and Prime Minister Tusk setting aside their political differences to attend.