BREAKING NEWS Prague shooting: Gunman dead after killing 14 at Charles University

[CharlieH]

 

 

A gunman has shot dead 14 people and injured another 25 at a university in Prague, officials say, in the deadliest attack in modern Czech history.

Police say the 24-year-old gunman was also "eliminated" following the shooting at Charles University in the historic centre of the capital.

University staff were told to barricade themselves in rooms during the attack.

Prime Minister Petr Fiala said he had cancelled upcoming engagements in light of the "tragic events" on Thursday.

The shooting started at about 15:00 local time (14:00 GMT) at the university's Faculty of Arts building on Jan Palach Square.

Dramatic footage later emerged on social media showing some people jumping to safety from one of the building's ledges several storeys up, and gunshots are also heard.

 

In a separate video, terrified crowds are seen fleeing the area popular with tourists.

At a briefing on Thursday evening, the country's police chief and the interior minister said the gunman had been a student at the faculty.

They said he was from a village 21km (13 miles) outside Prague. The suspect's father had been found dead earlier on Thursday. The gunman's motives were not immediately known.

Preliminary information suggested that no police officers were injured in the attack, the authorities said.

The police said they were also working on the theory that the gunman may have been responsible for the deaths of two people last week in a forest near Prague.

 

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[Tug]

An all to familiar story unfortunately my condolences to the bereaved and sorrow for the citizens of Prague 

[Wrwest]

My heart is yet again broken at the news of such murders and woundings. Unheard of in the Czech Republic. As Director of our Sister Cities program (Twinned Cities in Europe) I visited more than 40 times, over 20 years, passing through Prague on the way to and returning from our Sister City of Olomouc. Only recently working on my DNA genealogy have I learned that I aso have some Czech DNA. My heart goes out to all those who have suffered from this, including the shooter’s family which also suffered the double loss of the shooter and the shooters murdered Father. I mourn with my Czech friends.

Edited December 22, 2023 by Wrwest