A gunman who killed six people in Krakow died on Monday morning in hospital as authorities searched for clues about the motive of his attack.

The 24-year-old Polish national went on a rampage from his car in the city’s bustling old town on Saturday, also injuring 16 people. His death was confirmed by Polish police on X.

The mass shooting at the heart of Poland’s second-largest city and one of its biggest tourist destinations sparked an outpouring of grief in the country torn by deep political divisions.

The prosecutors are investigating the attack as a potential act of terrorism, although Interior Minister Marcin Kierwinski on Sunday walked back his previous comments that the suspect was likely “fascinated by far-right ideology.” The authorities were checking many possibilities, he said.

“This will need to be verified,” Kierwinski told broadcaster TVN24 after his earlier claims sparked uproar on the political right. “Every hypothesis and lead has to be examined and verified.”

The shooting, which took place despite Poland’s relatively strict gun laws, happened while a tense political standoff continues between the ruling pro-European Union government of Prime Minister Donald Tusk and the nationalist opposition backed by President Karol Nawrocki.

A search by police of the suspect’s home in Ostrowiec Swietokrzyski, a two-hour drive northeast of Krakow, found three more bodies, which state prosecutors said were the shooter’s parents and sister. The police also secured seven firearms in the apartment, which along with four guns that the shooter had on him in Krakow matched the tally for which the family had permits.

Police said the gunman, dressed in military gear and a bullet-proof vest, used a rifle resembling an AR-15 and had additional weapons and ammunition in his vehicle.

The investigation will try to confirm if the shooter acted alone or was part of a group, Justice Minister Waldemar Zurek said on Monday.

“The prosecutors continue to gather evidence,” Zurek told Radio Zet in an interview. “The crime of terrorism requires meticulous investigation into what has happened.”

Krakow will hold a march of silence at 8 p.m. on Monday to honor the victims of the attack, which included four Polish nationals as well as citizens of the U.K. and Austria. Poland is holding two days of mourning through Monday.

As the incident unfolded Saturday, witnesses described people running for cover in nearby restaurants and cafés as gunshots rang through the historic streets. A passing tram was also hit but no passengers were injured. The attacker subsequently left the Main Square, crashed into another vehicle and opened fire on responding police. The officers returned fire, wounding and arresting him.

Two officers were among those injured, one suffering multiple gunshot wounds and remaining in serious condition. Their health is stabilizing, the police said on Monday. There were five foreigners among the injured. Fifteen people are still hospitalized, fourteen of them in stable condition, the authorities said.

The attack took place seven years after an on-stage stabbing of Gdansk Mayor Paweł Adamowicz at a charity event prompted national mourning, but quickly descended into a political blame game. More recently, Poland has suffered from a wave of knife crimes at schools and the NATO member also remains a target of Russian hybrid warfare.

The country’s politics have grown increasingly febrile as Poland heads into a general election late next year. Support for far-right fringe parties has increased, with a growing chance they could play the kingmaker role if the current ruling coalition falls short of a majority.

A decision by the Tusk government to send police to the Constitutional Tribunal a week ago opened a fresh chapter in the struggle that has defined the last decade of Poland’s politics. The suspension of the chief justice and his deputy, controversial appointees of the previous nationalist administration, sparked demonstrations in the center of Warsaw as right-wing and conservative parties closed ranks to protest together.

A march led by nationalist forces scheduled to take place on the country’s Independence Day on Wednesday was set to become the next flashpoint in the conflict before the Krakow shooting. President Nawrocki had said he will lead the march, which each year includes white-power advocates and other extremist groups, as a show of strength against government actions at the Constitutional Tribunal.

The main opposition party, Law & Justice, criticized Tusk’s decision to relocate more police to Warsaw to control the court and for the looming march, which usually draws tens of thousands. The move had left Krakow vulnerable, lawmaker Jarosław Sellin said.

“Without the Constitutional Tribunal coup, there wouldn’t have been a Krakow shooting,” Sellin told broadcaster TVN24 on Sunday.

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