Terrified witnesses have described the moment a gunman opened fire in Krakow’s main market square, killing four women, two men and injuring at least 15 more.

Police said the man drove a car into the tourist spot on Saturday just before 3pm, and then began firing randomly at people as panic broke out.

Armed officers rushed to the scene and engaged in a shoot-out, with two officers injured, including one in a critical condition after suffering three gunshot wounds.

Police said the suspect, a 24-year-old Polish citizen, was shot and taken to hospital. He was said to be wearing “military-style” clothing and had military weapons.

On Saturday evening, Polish interior minister Marcin Kierwinski told a news briefing the suspect was “influenced by far-right ideology”.

People at the scene recalled the moment they heard gunshots and ran for cover. One person reported hearing “about 20 shots”.

The main market square is typically busy with traditional horse-drawn carriages and is popular with tourists.

“We were walking to the store and heard gunshots. Suddenly we turned around, people started running, tourists from other countries didn’t know what was happening. We heard about 20 shots,” Aleksander told Poland’s Faktowi.

He said that he “ran into the store, the lady closed the door, and we waited a moment”.

“I’ve never witnessed such panic. People were running into stores to hide,” he said.

Caitlin Shasby from Newcastle flew to the city on Saturday and said that she had heard the shots ringing from her hotel.

“We heard shots from hotel room but didn’t realise what it was until we received a call from the hotel confirming there had been a shooting,” she told the BBC.

She said that police were outside the hotel “barricading” the street.

Witnesses told TV Republika that they saw black Subaru drive up to the location.

“I saw the guy, he started loading his machine gun,” one witness told the news station.

“I don’t think he was firing blindly, these were deliberate shots. He had a sort of police mask on and goggles on. Then he shot at the church and fled towards Grodzka Street. Everyone was running away from there, people in horse-drawn carriages.”

One man described how several people cowered for safety in a police station after the shots rang out.

“I saw shots being fired from the driver’s side window, and smoke was coming out,” the man who said his name was Konrad, told Interia.

“I ran to the police station in the main market square; when I burst inside, it was full of people hiding on the floor.”

A 67-year-old man called Julek told Reuters that he had narrowly missed being shot himself.

Julek saw a dark car appear suddenly before the driver started shooting at a group of people and drove off.

“If we had been two minutes earlier, we might have been shot,” he said.

The victims of the shooting are yet to be identified.

Mr Kierwinski told journalists on Saturday evening that the suspect was interested in far-right ideology.

“Everything points to the fact that ‌the shooter ‌was influenced by far-right ideology, a ⁠matter that will also be subject to investigation,” he said. “Police officers are on-site, as are ‌agents from ​the Internal Security ‌Agency, both ⁠here at ⁠the scene and at ‌the individual’s ​family ‌home.”

Polish prime minister Donald Tusk headed to Krakow from Warsaw after hearing about the incident. In a statement, he said: “The highest praise for the heroic police officers who risked their lives. And a heartfelt appeal to politicians of all stripes: do not play with this tragedy. We will explain all the circumstances of this crime.”

European ‌foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas called it “a tragedy that ​will be felt far beyond Poland”.