A Liverpool grandmother visiting Krakow for her granddaughter's 19th birthday has described the moment her family ran for safety as a gunman opened fire, killing six people and injuring 16 others. Sarah Brodie, 61, originally from Vauxhall, was in the Polish city with her daughter Jodie, 43, and granddaughter when the attack unfolded.
The family had flown into Krakow on Saturday, November 7, and arrived at their Airbnb accommodation just half an hour before the shooting in the city's Main Square. They headed out to explore the square, but just metres from where they were standing, they heard a series of loud bangs.
Family trapped in shop attic
Speaking to the ECHO, Sarah said: "We were three doors down when we heard the bangs - they sounded like firecrackers at first. All the birds shot up in the air, there were hundreds of them. People were running, screaming."
"Out of the corner of my eye, a woman fell and I couldn't stop to help her. I don't think she got shot, I think she just stumbled forward. There were people running with buggies, kids screaming, dogs running around because their owners had let go of their leads."
"I saw a man picking his little boy up and running. My daughter just froze. I had to push her to get her to move."
Sarah, who suffers from heart failure, said she struggled to flee as the family searched for somewhere to take cover. "I could hardly run. I was half running, half falling. I didn't know what to do, I just wanted my granddaughter and my daughter safe," she said.
"We ran towards this tiny little shop. Loads of people were trying to get inside. The staff inside were saying, 'No, no shootings here'. They didn't believe us. They said nothing like that happens there."
Aftermath and return home
The family, alongside around a dozen other people, were eventually ushered into the shop's attic as the owner hurriedly brought down the shutters. Sarah said: "We could just hear all the gunshots - people running. We could hear the car screeching around the square. The gunshots were one after the other. Boom boom boom boom."
When they emerged, Sarah was confronted with the aftermath. "When we came back out, there was a woman on the floor getting resuscitated. Her husband was holding her hand. It was just horrendous."
The family were unable to return to their Airbnb until midnight after officers cordoned off the area. They were eventually escorted back by police. Despite trying to arrange an earlier flight home, they were stranded in Krakow. "We tried getting a flight home but couldn't. Our family were in bits, they were trying to get us on a flight to Spain, but there was nothing coming in or out," Sarah said.
Recalling the final night of their stay, Sarah described another distressing scene. "The square was still shut off and there was a big tent outside our Airbnb. They were removing the tent and there were four bodies lying there in body bags. It was horrendous. My granddaughter had a massive panic attack. She was hysterical, she couldn't breathe."
The family returned home on Tuesday, but Sarah said the images and sounds continue to haunt them. "My granddaughter hasn't gone back to work. She's on edge, shaking all over at every little noise," she said. "You hear of shootings in Merseyside, but actually being there, hearing the gunshots is another level. I will never forget the sound of those gunshots, and those poor people who died."
"I wish [the gunman] would have survived and been able to answer to what he's done. He's killed people, injured people and traumatised thousands."
The 24-year-old man suspected of killing six people in central Krakow, as well as his parents and sister who were found dead at their home, died in hospital on Monday, Polish police said. Four of the victims were Polish, while a Scottish man and an Austrian woman were also killed. Another British national was among 16 people wounded in what has been described as a "terror" attack.
