EA gunman shot dead at least 15 people in the Czech capital Prague on Thursday afternoon before he himself was killed by police. According to police and emergency services, the attacker killed ten people in front of the main building of the Faculty of Arts at Charles University in the city center, and dozens more people were injured, at least nine of them seriously. The police in Central Bohemia started a search for a young man born in 1999. It was suspected that the student was involved in the violent death of his father in Hostouň, about 16 kilometers west of the capital, and may then have driven to Prague armed with a pistol, rifle and explosives.
According to police, the shooter was “eliminated.” According to Prague Mayor Bohuslav Svoboda, the attacker ran out of the university building and died. According to unconfirmed witness statements on the networks, he shot himself first. The police did not provide any further information for the time being.
The perpetrator appears to be a student at Charles University
A witness told public broadcaster ČT24 that he observed a young man repeatedly shooting people with a rifle in the direction of the Mánes Bridge in front of the main entrance to the faculty. He then raised his hands and threw the rifle onto the street. According to further reports, the shooter also carried out attacks in the building, and footage is said to show him on the roof of the faculty. The evacuation of the building continued even after the shooter's death because many people had barricaded themselves in the rooms. The crime scene was cordoned off over a large area and traffic in Prague city center was restricted.
According to media reports, police units with submachine guns were deployed in Hostouň in the Kladno district. A police spokeswoman said the operation could be linked to today's mass shooting at Charles University's Faculty of Arts. Police have launched a search for the man born in 1999 in connection with the violent death of a man born in 1968. A spokeswoman for the Central Bohemian Rescue Service told the ČTK news agency that emergency services were ordered to Hostouň near Kladno at around one o'clock in the afternoon. A forensic pathologist was later called to the scene.
There was a claim circulating on social media among students at the Faculty of Arts that a fellow student had killed his father today. According to the Prague police chief, the attacker was a university student.
Interior Minister tries to calm down
Czech Interior Minister Vít Rakušan arrived at the scene of the attack in the center of the Czech capital. “I urge citizens not to go to the place to watch. I want to reassure the public, the shooter has been eliminated, there is no other confirmed attacker,” he said in an interview with Czech television. A cabinet meeting under Prime Minister Petr Fiala was scheduled for the evening.
President Petr Pavel expressed his deep regret and sincere condolences to the families and relatives of the victims. On social media, he thanked citizens for respecting the security forces' instructions. At the same time, the presidential office announced that Pavel was urgently returning from a business trip to France. Immediately after his return to the Czech Republic, he wanted to meet with the state's security forces.
EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and representatives of neighboring countries and partners also expressed their condolences. Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said she was shocked and was thinking of her Czech neighbors and friends in this difficult hour. Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said the attack in the middle of Prague hit the heart of Europe. She also expressed her condolences to the Czech Republic. Slovakian President Zuzana Čaputová and Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán also expressed concern and sympathy in short-term reactions.
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