Prague university gunman killed father before shooting 14 dead
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Czech students were left clinging to the side of their university building on Thursday as their classmate massacred at least 14 people during Europe’s worst mass shooting since the 2015 terror attacks in Paris.
The gunman, who was studying Polish history in Prague’s Charles University, murdered his father before shooting his classmates in a rampage that injured another 25 people and only ended when he was “eliminated”.
Images showed the man, named by local media as David Kozak, taking aim with a black rifle on the campus, which is located near the tourist hotspot of the Czech capital’s Old Town.
Police said they suspected 24-year-old Kozak shot himself after exchanging fire with officers on the walkway of the building, possibly after being wounded. An autopsy is yet to be performed, but officers said the “devastating injuries” suggested suicide.
He owned several guns, and what he did was a “well thought out, a horrible act”, they said.
Czech media reported that Kozak authored social media posts in which he indulged in fantasies of suicide and mass murders in the days before the attacks.
Police said the gunman was inspired by “a terrible event abroad”. In one post, he cited a 14-year-old Russian school shooter who killed one classmate and wounded five others as an inspiration.
Vit Rakusan, the Czech Republic’s interior minister, said police were investigating whether the gunman was responsible for the killing of two people, a man and his two-month-old daughter, in a forest near Prague last week.
Students barricaded themselves in their classrooms on Thursday before sending panicked messages on social media as police rushed to the scene at about 3pm local time.
A group of pupils were forced to climb out of their classroom window and were filmed huddling together on the building’s outer ledge as the attack continued on the fourth floor of the Faculty of Arts.
“Stay put, don’t go anywhere, if you’re in the offices, lock them and place furniture in front of the door, turn off the lights,” said one email sent to staff and students as the carnage erupted.
None of the victims were formally identified at the time of writing and authorities warned the death toll could rise.
Kozak is believed to have travelled 13 miles to the university from the central Bohemian village of Hostouň, where police discovered the body of his father.
Martin Vondrasek, the police director, said officers were searching for the 24-year-old man before the attack on the university.
“At 12.45pm we received information that a dead man, the suspect’s father, was found in the same village,” he said.
The gunman “left for Prague saying he wanted to kill himself,” he added, before revealing the first news of the shooting was at 2.59pm.
“At 3.20 pm we received information from the intervening police officers that the lifeless body of the shooter was found on the sidewalk of this school building,” said Mr Vondrasek.
A large haul of weapons was found in the university. “We could have had high tens of victims without a quick police response,” said Mr Rakusan.
Charles University authorities said they would tighten security on campus with immediate effect.
“We mourn the loss of life of members of our university community, express our deepest condolences to all the bereaved and our thoughts are with all those affected by the tragedy,” the university said in a statement.
Petr Fiala, the prime minister, cancelled a visit to the city of Olomouc and returned to Prague while Petr Pavel, the president, said he was “shocked” by the shooting.
The Czech government declared Saturday a national day of mourning to honour the shooting victims.
07:41 PM GMT
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Here’s what we’ve learnt so far of today’s mass shooting:
A 24-year-old student killed at least 14 people and wounded dozens more at a Prague university
Authorities say the attacker was “eliminated”
The suspect has been named in Czech media as 24-year-old David Kozak
Prague Police Chief Martin Vondrasek the gunman suffered “devastating injuries” but it wasn’t clear if he killed himself or was fatally shot by officers
The shooting was not linked to international terrorism, the Czech government said
The suspect’s father was found dead in a village 13 miles from the Czech capital earlier on Thursday
06:59 PM GMT
Czech and EU Comission presidents denounce violence
Czech President Petr Pavel said he was “shocked” by the violence and expressed “deep regret and sincere condolences to the families and relatives of the victims”.
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen denounced “the senseless violence of the shooting that claimed several lives today.”
06:25 PM GMT
Pictured: Latest scenes from Prague following the mass shooting
06:20 PM GMT
Czech Republic has some of the most liberal gun laws in Europe.
There are more than 800,000 firearms of all categories registered among 300,000 gun permit holders in the country, which has a population of about 10.5 million people, writes Ella Nunn.
It is one of the only nations in the world - and the only one in Europe - that provides the constitutional right to bear arms.
Concealed-carry permits for self-defence can be obtained by Czech citizens without presenting specific reasons and recreational shooting is one of the most popular sports in the country.
06:08 PM GMT
Shooter named in local media as David Kozak
The suspect has been named in Czech media as 24-year-old David Kozak.
It’s alleged that he had a telegram channel where he made disturbing posts leading up to this shooting.
06:03 PM GMT
Gunman wanted to kill himself
The gunman “left for Prague saying he wanted to kill himself,” police chief Martin Vondrasek told reporters.
05:39 PM GMT
Zelensky sends condolences following attack
Shocking reports of tragic events in Prague. Innocent people were killed and injured. My sincere condolences to the families of the victims. I wish those injured a speedy recovery.
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) December 21, 2023
05:36 PM GMT
'Shooter put hands up and threw weapon down', says witness
Petr Nedoma, director of the Rudolfinum Gallery at a concert hall across Palach Square, told Czech TV he saw the shooter.
“I saw a young person on the gallery who had some weapon in his hand, like and automatic weapon, and shooting toward the Manes Bridge. Repeatedly, with some interruptions, then I saw as he shot, put hands up and threw the weapon down on the street, it lay there on the pedestrian crossing,” he said.
05:27 PM GMT
Shooting not linked to international terrorism, says government
The shooting was not linked to international terrorism, the Czech government said.
“There is no indication that this crime has any link to international terrorism”, Interior Minister Vit Rakusan told reporters.
05:21 PM GMT
Shooter a student at university
The police said the shooter was a student at the faculty of arts at Charles University.
05:19 PM GMT
Macron expresses 'solidarity with victims'
Vive émotion en apprenant que l’Université Charles de Prague a été la cible d’une fusillade meurtrière. J’exprime ma solidarité avec les victimes, les blessés et leurs proches, ainsi qu’avec le peuple et les autorités tchèques.
— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) December 21, 2023
05:11 PM GMT
Police with submachine guns seen outside family home
Police with submachine guns were seen outside a family home in the village of Hostouň, in the Kladno region, northwest of Prague, writes James Crisp.
Officers in the area, some 13 miles from the Czech capital, announced they were hunting a man in connection with the violent death of another man at the address.
Local media have linked the incident to the shooter in Prague, which police have not denied, and suggested he went to the capital from the village before launching his attack.
05:08 PM GMT
'Shooting not linked to international terrorism'
Prague shooting not linked to international terrorism, says minister
05:03 PM GMT
More than 15 killed
More than 15 killed in Prague university shooting, say police
05:01 PM GMT
Footage of more students being evacuated
#Prague: 10 people have died as a result of the shooting at #CharlesUniversity.
The remaining students are being evacuated by the police.#Praga #Prague #CzechRepublic #Czech pic.twitter.com/CUGILpYReT— Faheem (@stoppression) December 21, 2023
04:48 PM GMT
British couple speak of being locked down by police
A newlywed British couple have told the Press Association of the moment a police officer ordered them to stay down during a mass shooting in central Prague.
Tom Leese, 34, a video producer and his wife Rachael, 31, an account director, who are on their honeymoon in the country, were having a drink in the Slivovitz Museum, close to where the shooting occurred.
Mr Leese said: “A policeman came in and started shouting loudly in what I assume was Czech. I asked for it in English and he said there was an active shooter and to stay inside and stay down.”
He added: “The staff were very calm, turned all the lights off very quickly and urged us to stay calm, the restaurant was relatively quiet. The policeman left urgently and we stood in the corner of the restaurant.”
The couple, from Merstham in Surrey, were kept in the the museum for over an hour, hearing sirens outside.
Mr Leese said: “Rachael is still in shock. With everyone else being so calm it didn’t seem real to me.”
04:41 PM GMT
Prague's mayor says 'our world is changing'
Prague Mayor Bohuslav Svoboda has told broadcasters:
“The thing is, of course, a tragedy, it is a tragedy that occurs in the modern world. We know very well that for a number of years we have been hearing from the United States that there has been an excess of some shooter shooting in a school or on the street or somewhere. We have always thought that this is a matter that does not concern Europe and us, that this is a matter that is also a given in the United States due to the fact that everyone there is armed, etc.
“Now, unfortunately, it turns out that our world is also changing and we have the problem of the individual shooter whose reasons for what he does are not entirely clear. And the worst thing about it is that these are things that cannot be solved preventively,”
04:35 PM GMT
Pictured: Police evacuation of Faculty of Arts
04:30 PM GMT
Footage from the shooting
04:25 PM GMT
Hungary's prime minister 'shocked by heinous shooting'
I was deeply shocked by the heinous shooting that took place at Charles University in #Prague today. Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of the victims! 🙏
— Orbán Viktor (@PM_ViktorOrban) December 21, 2023
04:19 PM GMT
Witness statement
Pavel Nedoma, the director of Rudolfinum Gallery, which also is located in the square, told Czech public television he saw from a window a person who was shooting from a gun toward the nearby Mánes bridge across the Vltava River.
He said: “Upstairs on the walkway of the Faculty of Arts, I saw a man standing with a gun in his hand and shooting towards the Mánes bridge. Then he put his hands up and threw the gun towards the road, it remained lying by the philosophy faculty. Then a lot of people appeared upstairs, I don’t know if it was the police. I left the window and watched the police evacuate people from the Faculty of Philosophy, taking them away with their hands behind their heads in different directions, a large number of cars, people running around.”
04:11 PM GMT
Czech president speaks
The Czech president Petr Pavel has said he is “shocked” by Prague university shootings.
“I am shocked by the events... I would like to express my deep regret and sincere condolences to the families and relatives of the victims claimed by the shooting,” Mr Pavel, who is winding up a two-day visit to Paris on Thursday, said on X, formerly Twitter.
04:03 PM GMT
Three dozen wounded
A further three dozen others have been wounded, Prague’s emergency services said.
03:56 PM GMT
Czech police say building is still being evacuated
Stále probíhá evakuace budovy, jelikož se někteří studenti před střelcem uzamkli v místnostech. pic.twitter.com/Puw5it55h7
— Policie ČR (@PolicieCZ) December 21, 2023
03:55 PM GMT
Rescuers say 10 dead
Rescuers have said 10 people are dead.
03:42 PM GMT
Czech prime minister cancels events
Prime Minister Petr Fiala canceled his scheduled events in the east of the country and is heading for Prague.
03:36 PM GMT
Pictured: People hiding on the ledge of university building
03:28 PM GMT
Czech police urge people to stay home
Vyzýváme občany, aby se v blízkém okolí nezdržovali a nevycházeli z domu. Zásah policie stále pokračuje. pic.twitter.com/OHnSsq4G5f
— Policie ČR (@PolicieCZ) December 21, 2023
03:24 PM GMT
Staff had been told to 'stay put'
An email to staff at the Faculty of Arts of Charles University, seen and reported by Reuters, had said a shooter was in one of its buildings and had told staff to “stay put”.
“Don’t go anywhere, if you’re in the offices, lock them and place furniture in front of the door, turn off the lights,” the email said.
03:22 PM GMT
Czech Interior Minister speaks
The Czech Interior Minister Vit Rakusan has told the Czech public that the person who opened fire was dead.
Mr Rakusan said there’s no other shooter at the scene and there’s no imminent further danger, but he urged people to cooperate with police.
03:19 PM GMT
More pictures from the scene
03:17 PM GMT
Pictured: Armed police seen on the balcony of university
03:15 PM GMT
Multiple people injured
Jana Postova, a spokesperson for Prague’s rescue service, confirmed numerous people were injured but provided no specific details on exact numbers.
03:10 PM GMT
Police urging people to stay away
Police officers have cordoned off an area around the university and are urging people to stay away, according to a statement posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.
03:10 PM GMT
Student says 'stuck in classroom' after gunman killed
03:07 PM GMT
Police say gunman dead
Prague police say several people are dead following the shooting, adding the gunman has been “eliminated”.
“The gunman was eliminated!!! The building is currently being evacuated and there are several dead and dozens of wounded people on the scene,” police said on X, formerly known as Twitter.