FacebookA 32-year-old Scottish man has been confirmed as one of the victims of a mass shooting in Poland that left six people dead.
The man, who is understood to be James Thomas Campbell from Prestwick in South Ayrshire, died when a lone gunman opened fire in central Krakow on Saturday.
Campbell worked as a DJ in Ayrshire. Police Scotland confirmed it was providing specialist support to the victim’s family, but formal identification is yet to be carried out.
The 24-year-old attacker, named as Michal Oksinski by local media, died in hospital on Monday, having also fatally shot four Polish citizens and an Austrian woman with a further 15 people, including two police officers, injured.
Det Ch Insp David McAlinden, senior investigating officer from Police Scotland’s Counter Terrorism Policing unit, said the force was “aware of the tragic death of a Scottish man in Krakow”.
He added: “Working in conjunction with COPFS (the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service), Police Scotland is supporting the UK counter-terrorism policing network and the Polish authorities.
“The immediate shared priority is to ensure that identification is properly established for the family, so that repatriation can take place as quickly as possible.
“The family has asked for their privacy to be respected. Our thoughts are with them and everyone impacted by this incident.”
Mark Jewell, a close friend of Campbell’s who regularly DJ’d with him, described him as “a quiet, kind and soft-hearted person, who wouldn’t have harmed a fly”.
He added: “It’s just so tragic that he had to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
“I had been speaking with him when he was headed over to Poland and I messaged him as soon as I heard about the terrible attack, to ask if he was safe – not for one minute expecting that he would have been caught up in it all.
“I was fully expecting a funny message back from him, saying not to worry. I can’t quite get my head round it all.”
The attack began shortly before 15:00 local time (14:00 GMT) in Krakow’s Main Market Square, a popular tourist spot.
Police said the gunman drove into the square before beginning to fire at random people from his car.
Armed officers raced to the scene and engaged in a gunfight with the man, who was shot within three minutes of the attack beginning.
In addition to the six people killed in central Krakow, police later found the bodies of the gunman’s parents and sister at his address on Saturday.
Earlier this week two friends from Aberdeen described how they ran for their lives as the shooting started.
Ciaran McMenemy, 26, and Charlie Hutchison, 27, said they had just sat down for a drink when the gunfire began. They quickly fled and took shelter.
