In the deadliest shooting incident to hit the Czech Republic in decades, a 24-year-old shooter opened fire at a Prague university on Thursday, killing over 15 and injuring scores more before police declared him “eliminated.”
Following the tragic violence in the city’s historic center, there were huge evacuations, an intense police presence, and advisories to stay indoors.
The Charles University Faculty of Arts, located close to popular tourist destinations including the Charles Bridge from the fourteenth century, was the scene of the shooting.
“More than 15 people have lost their lives and at least 24 have been wounded,” police chief Martin Vondrasek told reporters following the shooting.
Nine major injuries, at least five moderate injuries, and up to ten minor injuries were initially recorded by emergency personnel.
According to Vondrasek, police began looking for the man before to the shooting because his father had been discovered dead in the Hostoun town, which is west of Prague.
According to Vondrasek, the gunman “left for Prague saying he wanted to kill himself.” According to police, the gunman may have slain his father earlier.
The gunman was supposed to give a lecture at the main Faculty of Arts building, but he fled to a nearby faculty building, so police were unable to locate him.
“At 1359 GMT, we received the first information about shooting,” Vondrasek told reporters, adding the rapid response unit was on the scene within 12 minutes.
“At 1420 GMT, the officers in action told us about the gunman’s motionless body,” Vondrasek said, adding unconfirmed information showed he had killed himself.
Citing a probe into social media, Vondrasek said the gunman was inspired by a “similar case that happened in Russia this autumn”, without going into details.
“At the moment, there is nothing to suggest any further imminent danger,” he added.
Vondrasek said no police officer was wounded in Thursday’s action and that police had not yet started to identify the dead by 1700 GMT as pyrotechnicians were at work in the building.
‘Shocked’
Police evacuated the building, using a concert hall across the street as a temporary refuge for the evacuees.
The worst shooting since the Czech Republic emerged as an independent state in 1993 prompted support from across the world.
Declaring his “deep regret and sincere condolences to the families and relatives of the victims,” Czech President Petr Pavel said he was “shocked” by the violence.
President Ursula von der Leyen of the European Commission condemned “the senseless violence of the shooting that claimed several lives today.”
Like several other European leaders, including President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine, French President Emmanuel Macron also declared his “solidarity” with the people of the Czech Republic.
Vit Rakusan, the minister of the Czech interior, stated that there was no connection between the shooting and “international terrorism.”
He added that “no other gunman has been confirmed” and called on people to follow police instructions.
Police cordoned off the area and asked people living nearby to stay at home.
According to Prague’s emergency services, “a large number of ambulance units” were stationed at the faculty, as reported on X.
While there aren’t many cases of mass gun violence in the Czech Republic, there have been some shocking incidents in recent years.
at 2015, a sixty-three-year-old man opened fire on seven men and a woman at an Uhersky Brod restaurant before taking his own life.
In the hospital waiting area in the eastern city of Ostrava in 2019, a man murdered six people; a second woman perished a few days later. Approximately three hours after the attack, the man shot himself to death.