14 dead and dozens wounded in Prague university shooting, Czech officials say
Category: News & Politics
Via: perrie-halpern • 10 months ago • 6 commentsBy: Mithil Aggarwal and Minyvonne Burke
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Fourteen people were killed and dozens were injured when a gunman opened fire at a university in Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic, authorities said Thursday. The shooter was also dead, police said on X.
A motive for the shooting Thursday at Charles University remains unclear. The identities of the victims and the shooter have not been released.
It's believed the suspect was a student at the school who traveled there from the town of Hostou, according to authorities. Police said evidence indicates that the shooter killed himself.
Authorities said earlier that more than 15 people were killed in the shooting and that 24 were injured. Police later updated those numbers to 14 dead and 25 injured. It's not clear whether those figures included the gunman.
Ten people are seriously injured, Police President Martin Vondraek said.Prague Emergency Services saidearlier that at least eight were "moderately seriously injured." Five others were "slightly" injured, according to the agency, noting that the number of victims may change.
Police officers secure an area after a shooting in downtown Prague, Czech Republic, on Thursday. Petr David Josek / AP
Shortly after noon local time, police received a report that a 24-year-old man was on his way to Prague, saying he wanted to take his own life, according to authorities. The first call about a shooting at the university came in at 2:59 p.m. local time. Officers were on the scene within minutes, Vondraek said.
The shooter's body was found around 3:20 p.m. local time, Vondraek said.
"From the checks so far, it follows that [the suspect] is a blank slate for us," Vondraek said at the news conference. "We also found out from that check that he is a legal holder of several firearms."
Asked about reports that the shooter was also armed with explosives, Vondraek could not confirm but said the gunman was capable of even more bloodshed.
"Right now I can't confirm the presence of explosives, but there was a large quantity of munitions and if the police hadn't entered the building in time, the perpetrator wouldn't have been dead at [3:20] and there would be a lot more victims," he said.
The suspect's father was later found dead from an apparent suicide, according to police. They saidit's unclear whether it occurred before or after the shooting.
The shooting prompted the evacuation of a building in downtown Prague and warnings from officials that people remain indoors. The entire Namsti Jan Palach town square and the surrounding area were closed.
Video shared online and geolocated by NBC News showed dozens of people running on the Charles Bridge.
Charles University, one of the oldest universities in Europe, offered its condolences to the victims and their loved ones.
"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 school posted on its website. "We now ask everyone to try to remain calm and composed, and we again extend our condolences to all those whose hearts have been broken by the loss of loved ones."
The faculty of arts at Charles University said it was "shocked" and "mourned for lives lost."
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden were praying for the victims and their families.
Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala said he's returning to Prague in a post on X.
"Due to the tragic events at the Faculty of Philosophy in Prague, I have canceled the work program in Olomouc and am going back to Prague," he said.
Earlier Thursday, the British Embassy in Prague issued an advisory and asked nationals to follow the advice of local authorities.
The Czech Republic is also known as Czechia.
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Is this the personality what we categorize as psychopath? Is it nature or nurture or undiagnosed disease rotting away the brain?
This was not anger or vengeance toward an individual who he felt had slighted him in some way. This was just I want to kill people mentality.
Psychopaths are even more dangerous when they complete an education in fields like healthcare. There was a recent court case in England that involved a nurse who murdered newborn babies in her care. She has no remorse whatsoever. She is currently in prison serving a life sentence.
How many more people are killed by psychopaths in professional fields that are meant to help people than by gunmen who are determined to gain notoriety or go out in a blaze of glory?
The article below also states that law enforcement has evidence that ties Kozak to two murders a week earlier.
Must be nice for something like this to be newsworthy.
Why wouldn't this be newsworthy?
Has psychopathy become so common in the US that we just consider other people as nothing more than collateral damage for the mentally ill to vent their rage on?
14 is an average us mass shooting. Nothng to get worked up about.
Maybe she if we were talking about babies…
It'll be quite an effort for other civilized First World countries to even TRY to catch up to America's normal mass shooting statistics. That's why this story is newsworthy.
I know, that’s my point.