15 dead, 11 injured in Czech capital university shooting
Dec 21, 2023 14:55:58 GMT -5
Post by shalom on Dec 21, 2023 14:55:58 GMT -5
15 dead, 11 injured in Czech capital university shooting
Police said the father of the shooter - a student at the faculty - was found dead earlier on Thursday.
By DANIELLE GREYMAN-KENNARD, REUTERS
DECEMBER 21, 2023 16:48
December 21, 2023.
A 24-year-old Czech student killed more than 15 people and wounded at least 24 others at his Prague university on Thursday before he was "eliminated," police said, in what was the country'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. (1400 GMT). Police said the father of the shooter - a student at the faculty - was found dead earlier on Thursday.
"The shooter has been eliminated !!! The entire building is currently being evacuated and there are several dead and dozens of injured," the police announced online.
The Central Military Hospital activated a trauma plan to respond to the mass reception of the wounded, Czech media source CT24 reported.
Police Chief Martin Vondrasek said authorities was tipped off earlier in the day the man was likely heading to Prague from his town in the Kladno region outside the capital with intentions of taking his own life. Shortly after that, the shooter's father was found dead.
Police evacuated a Charles University Faculty of Arts building where the shooter was due to attend a lecture, but then were called in at the faculty's different building, arriving within minutes after reports of the shooting came in, 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," Vondrasek told reporters, adding the shooter was a legal holder of several firearms.
"It was a pre-mediated horrific act that started in the Kladno region and unfortunately ended here."
The gunman's death could have been a suicide but authorities are also investigating whether he may have been killed by a police bullet, Vondrasek added.
Police asked not to reveal the man's identity, 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 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.
Warnings to stay away
The surrounding area of Náměstí Jan Palach has been closed down and police are advising people to stay away.
One witness told news website iDnes.cz that they got off at the tram stop by the school and "suddenly I heard shooting".
Klara, a student, told the news website she was among those who police evacuated from the building.
"It was terribly scary, there were a lot of policemen everywhere, who were shouting at us with submachine guns, telling us to run outside," she said.
Czech media reported that the site of the incident was the Faculty of Philosophy at a local university.
Czech Charles University told staff in an email to "stay put" and lock the doors following a report of a shooting at one of its buildings in Prague.
"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, seen by Reuters.
President Isaac Herzog shared his condolences on X, writing "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."
This is a developing story.
link
Police said the father of the shooter - a student at the faculty - was found dead earlier on Thursday.
By DANIELLE GREYMAN-KENNARD, REUTERS
DECEMBER 21, 2023 16:48
December 21, 2023.
A 24-year-old Czech student killed more than 15 people and wounded at least 24 others at his Prague university on Thursday before he was "eliminated," police said, in what was the country'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. (1400 GMT). Police said the father of the shooter - a student at the faculty - was found dead earlier on Thursday.
"The shooter has been eliminated !!! The entire building is currently being evacuated and there are several dead and dozens of injured," the police announced online.
The Central Military Hospital activated a trauma plan to respond to the mass reception of the wounded, Czech media source CT24 reported.
Police Chief Martin Vondrasek said authorities was tipped off earlier in the day the man was likely heading to Prague from his town in the Kladno region outside the capital with intentions of taking his own life. Shortly after that, the shooter's father was found dead.
Police evacuated a Charles University Faculty of Arts building where the shooter was due to attend a lecture, but then were called in at the faculty's different building, arriving within minutes after reports of the shooting came in, 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," Vondrasek told reporters, adding the shooter was a legal holder of several firearms.
"It was a pre-mediated horrific act that started in the Kladno region and unfortunately ended here."
The gunman's death could have been a suicide but authorities are also investigating whether he may have been killed by a police bullet, Vondrasek added.
Police asked not to reveal the man's identity, 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 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.
Warnings to stay away
The surrounding area of Náměstí Jan Palach has been closed down and police are advising people to stay away.
One witness told news website iDnes.cz that they got off at the tram stop by the school and "suddenly I heard shooting".
Klara, a student, told the news website she was among those who police evacuated from the building.
"It was terribly scary, there were a lot of policemen everywhere, who were shouting at us with submachine guns, telling us to run outside," she said.
Czech media reported that the site of the incident was the Faculty of Philosophy at a local university.
Czech Charles University told staff in an email to "stay put" and lock the doors following a report of a shooting at one of its buildings in Prague.
"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, seen by Reuters.
President Isaac Herzog shared his condolences on X, writing "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."
This is a developing story.
link