A gunman killed six people in a shooting spree in Krakow's Old Town on Saturday, before being shot and detained by police.
asserted
gunman → kill → police
The gunman, who is also suspected of killing three family members before the attack, later died in hospital.
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who → suspect → hospital
On Monday, Poland's national prosecutor's office announced a formal investigation.
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office → announce → investigation
Nevertheless, much is still unknown about the details of the crime, leaving social media users to fill the information vacuum with fake images of the attacker and alleged screenshots of his online profile.
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much → leave → profile
DW Fact Check breaks down the developing story.
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Check → break → story
Claim: A viral picture has been circulating on social media claiming to be the real image of the suspected attacker.
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picture → circulate → attacker
DW Fact Check: Fake
In the post, the image is posted with the caption, "[…] The perpetrator of the attack in Krakow is a 25-year-old Polish citizen, Polish police have reported.
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police → post → Krakow
The death toll has reached six.
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toll → reach → six
But the unusual sharpness of this picture raises doubt of its authenticity.
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sharpness → raise → authenticity
It is difficult to imagine capturing such a clear image in a chaotic situation.
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It → imagine → situation
DW checked the image using two different AI detectors.
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DW → check → detectors
Hive Moderation identified it as 99.5% AI-generated, while Google's SynthID Detector confirmed that it contains a SynthID watermark, indicating that it was generated or edited using Google's AI technology.
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it → identify → technology
In our research we found several versions of the suspect image circulating online, most looking very similar.
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most → find → image
We also found a number of images and videos showing the attack.
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We → find → attack
Although DW cannot independently verify the footage, it shares similarities in terms of the people and background with some original images published by picture agencies.
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it → verify → agencies
It appears the AI-generated images may have been created using this footage as a reference.
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images → appear → reference
Some of the posts sharing these images have also been labeled as AI-generated.
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Some → share → images
One important thing to understand is that AI cannot sharpen a blurry image with correct details or recover details that are not visible in an original photograph.
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that → understand → photograph
It can generate plausible details based on the surrounding visual information, but these are essentially guesses, not exact reproductions of what was actually there.
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what → generate → information
More about this and how users used sharpening AI tools here.
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users → use → tools
Did the shooter sympathize with Ukraine?
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shooter → sympathize → Ukraine
Claim: "Michal Oksinski, the terrorist from Krakow who also killed his parents and sister, had a Telegram account with the Ukrainian flag.
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who → kill → flag
On November 3, he wrote 'Thanks, Dad, for the gun', posting this photo of himself wearing the Ukrainian flag insignia," an X user wrote in a post viewed more than 700,000 times.
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user → write → post
The account allegedly posted a photo on November 3, showing the attacker holding a gun, standing in front of a television and a Ukrainian insignia on the wall.
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attacker → post → wall
Another post on November 4 simply reads, "11/7/2026", the date of the attack.
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post → read → attack
Both of these posts were edited on November 8, after the suspect had been apprehended.
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suspect → edit → November
DW verified on the Telegram app by hovering over the posts to show the edit history.
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DW → verify → history
The channel's photo, a Ukrainian flag, was also edited after the attack took place.
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attack → edit → place
This is a common disinformation tactic — fake accounts will edit old posts and pictures in the days after a breaking news event to give the appearance that they've predicted or announced the event in advance.
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they → edit → advance
Further proof: in Poland, the date is written first, not the month.
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date → write → Poland
And the photo of the alleged attacker itself is almost certainly AI-generated.
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photo → allege → attacker
HIVE Moderation said it was 99.9% likely to be created with AI.
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it → say → AI
Does the attacker have links to a group that operated in Ukraine?
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that → have → Ukraine
Claim: "#BREAKING: The attacker in Poland had a full arsenal in this trunk!
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attacker → break → trunk
He also has forward observation group patches, an American military company active in Ukraine," reads an X post viewed nearly 100,000 times.
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post → have → Ukraine
The attached photo of the supposed "arsenal" in the trunk has been shared by several other accounts.
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photo → attach → accounts
DW Fact Check: False
The attached photo claims to show the attacker's car with a trunk full of guns, ammunition, a helmet and a military vest.
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photo → attach → guns
The vest in the trunk of the car features a symbol supposedly connected to the Forward Observations Group, an American tactical training lifestyle brand that has traveled to and operated in Ukraine.
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that → feature → Ukraine
The patch, however, is the Old Roger flag, a symbol commonly used in military circles.
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patch → use → circles
The Forward Observations Group logo is a variationof this symbol, featuring a horned skeleton holding a gun, not an hourglass.
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logo → feature → gun
…and 3 more, not listed.
The Aporia
