A 24-year-old Czech student killed more than 14 people and wounded at least 24 others at his Prague university on Thursday before he was “eliminated,” the police said. It was the Czech Republic’s worst-ever mass shooting.
Czech police responded to the shooting at Charles University’s Faculty of Arts building in Jan Palach Square shortly after 3 p.m. The father of the shooter, a student at the faculty, was found dead earlier on Thursday, the police said.
“The shooter has been eliminated!!! The entire building is currently being evacuated and there are several dead and dozens of injured,” the police reported in an online post.
The Central Military Hospital activated a trauma plan to respond to the mass reception of the wounded, Czech news channel CT24 reported.
Police Chief Martin Vondrasek said the authorities were tipped off earlier in the day that the man was likely heading to Prague from his town in the Kladno region outside the capital to take his own life. Shortly after that, the shooter’s father was found dead, he said.
The Czech government declared Dec. 23 a national day of mourning, Prime Minister Petr Fiala said on Thursday.
Police evacuated a Charles University Faculty of Arts building where the shooter was due to attend a lecture, but then they received reports of the shooting at one of the faculty’s other buildings and arrived within minutes, Vondrasek said.
“We have very fresh unconfirmed information from an account on a social network that he was supposedly inspired by one terrorist attack in Russia in the autumn of this year,” he told reporters, adding that the shooter was a legal holder of several firearms. “It was a premeditated horrific act that started in the Kladno region and unfortunately ended here.”
The gunman’s death could have been a suicide, but the authorities are also investigating whether he may have been killed by a police bullet, Vondrasek said.
The police requested that the man’s identity not be revealed, but his name as reported by some Czech media matched a police search report and an account on a social network where its owner talked about being inspired by a mass shooting in Russia.
Petr Nedoma, director of the Rudolfinum Gallery at a concert hall on the other side of Palach Square, told Czech TV he saw the shooter.
“I saw a young person in the gallery who had some weapon in his hand, like an automatic weapon, and shooting toward the Manes Bridge repeatedly, with some interruptions,” he said. “Then I saw as he shot, put hands up, and threw the weapon down on the street. It laid there on the pedestrian crossing.”
The surrounding area of Náměstí Jan Palach has been closed down and police are advising people to stay away.
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
Witnesses speak out about the devastating attack.
One witness told news website iDnes.cz that they got off at the tram stop by the school and "suddenly I heard shooting".
One witness told the iDnes.cz news site that passengers on the light rail got off at the tram stop by the school, and “suddenly, I heard shooting.”
Klara, a student, told the news site that police evacuated her and others from the building.
“It was scary,” she said. “There were a lot of policemen with submachine guns everywhere who were shouting at us, telling us to run outside.”
Charles University told staff members to “stay put” and lock the doors following the report of the shooting.“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 an email to staff at the Philosophy Faculty of Charles University that was seen by Reuters.
Policie zasahuje v Praze na Náměstí Jana Palacha u nahlášené střelby ve škole. Podle prvních informací jsou na místě mrtví a zranění lidé. Celé náměstí a blízké okolí jsou zcela uzavřeny. pic.twitter.com/EAbEQ8PZVE
— ČT24 (@CT24zive) December 21, 2023
President Isaac Herzog extended his condolences.
“I am deeply saddened to hear of the mass shooting in Prague, and send my condolences to @prezidentpavel and all the people of the Czech Republic,” he wrote on X. “Our thoughts and prayers are with the families who have lost loved ones, and we pray for the speedy recovery of the injured.”
I am deeply saddened to hear of the mass-shooting in Prague, and send my condolences to @prezidentpavel and all the people of the Czech Republic.Our thoughts and prayers are with the families who have lost loved ones, and we pray for the speedy recovery of the injured.
— יצחק הרצוג Isaac Herzog (@Isaac_Herzog) December 21, 2023
This is a developing story.