Prague University shooting: 14 dead

The gunman killed his father and 14 others, wounded 25 others and then took his own life, marking the deadliest mass shooting in the country's history.

The gunman is also suspected of killing a man and his two-month-old daughter whose bodies were found in a wooded area outside Prague last week, Prague police chief Martin Vondrasek said.

The city authorities received information earlier in the day that the student might be coming to Prague from the Kladno region with the intention of committing suicide, and found a large cache of weapons stored in a building at Charles University.

Not long after, the gunman's father was found dead.

“We have new, unconfirmed information from a social media account that this person planned this attack after witnessing a terrorist attack in Russia this fall,” Mr. Vondrasek said. He also said the gunman was a legal owner of multiple guns and ammunition.

“This was a pre-planned attack that started in the Kladno region and unfortunately ended here.”

Vondrasek said the gunman’s death was likely a suicide, but authorities were also investigating the possibility that he was killed by police return fire. Police said the gunman was a high-achieving student with no criminal record and acted alone.

Police have asked that the gunman's identity not be released, but several media outlets have reported his name and it matches a search warrant issued by police.

Photo: REUTERS/David W Cerny.

Authorities have sealed off the square and the area adjacent to the school building, in a densely populated district at the foot of Prague Castle hill, on a popular street leading to Old Town Square.

Images posted showed students evacuating the building with their hands up, and others sitting on railings near a roof to hide from the gunman while others were blocking the entrance with tables and chairs.

“We always thought that this was a problem that did not concern us,” said Prague Mayor Bohuslav Svoboda. “It turned out, unfortunately, that the world around us was changing and the problem of lone gunmen began to appear here as well.”

The White House has condemned the attack and said the US stands ready to assist. Leaders across Europe, including French President Emmanuel Macron, have also offered their help.

Witness Ivo Havranek, 43, said he initially thought the “some initial explosions” he heard were from noisy tourists or a nearby film set.

“Then suddenly some students and teachers started running out of the building. I tried to walk through the crowd without knowing what was happening. I was not ready to accept that such an incident could happen in Prague.” He said it was only when he saw some police officers carrying automatic rifles that he realised the situation was serious.

“They yelled at me to run.”

Prime Minister Petr Fiala canceled a visit and the Czech government held an emergency meeting with President Petr Pavel and the head of the country's intelligence agency.

Shootings are relatively rare in the Czech Republic. In December 2019, a 42-year-old gunman killed six people in a hospital waiting room in the eastern Czech city of Ostrava before fleeing and killing himself.

In 2015, a gunman killed eight people before killing himself at a restaurant in Uhersky Brod.

Nguyen Quang Minh (according to Reuters)

Source: https://www.nguoiduatin.vn/xa-sung-tai-dai-hoc-prague-14-nguoi-thiet-mang-a641846.html