Prague shooting latest: Bells rung across Czech Republic as nation mourns 14 dead in university attack
Gunman behind Thursday’s mass shooting identified as 24-year-old David Kozak
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Bells rang across the Czech Republic and the national flags on public buildings were at half-staff as people across the country observed a minute of silence to honor the 14 victims of the worst mass killing in Czech history.
Archbishop Jan Graubner served a mass at the main St Vitus cathedral at the Prague Castle. “We’re all still in a shock in our own ways,” the archbishop said, adding: “We need to clearly condemn what happened but we also need to look into the future.”
“Nobody should be left alone in these tough moments,” Charles University rector Milena Kralickova said in her remarks toward the end of the Mass.
The gunman behind Thursday’s mass shooting has been identified as 24-year-old David Kozak.
The history student opened fire on the fourth floor of Charles University in Prague, killing at least 14 people and injuring more than 20 with legally owned weapons.
He is believed to have killed his father before carrying out the massacre at his university. Authorities on Friday announced that all victims in Thursday’s shooting in Prague have been identified and none of them were foreign citizens.
Reporter distracts gunman to help people escape
“Hey, you f*****, here I am, shoot here!” screamed a Czech reporter trying to distract a gunman who killed 14 people at a university building in Prague on Thursday.
Jiri Forman, a reporter for a small security-focused news outfit who said he had experience in war zones, evaded fire from the gunman who was perched on a balcony on the top floor of Charles University’s Faculty of Art.
While ducking behind a corner in a square below, he kept feeding information to police outside and urged them to fire back, while filming continuously on his phone.
Asked by an officer what was he doing, Forman is heard in the footage shouting: “So that he doesn’t shoot at the people! What do you think I am doing, man? There are people there!”His actions have won him plaudits in Czech media, but Forman played down suggestions he was a hero.
“Where I stood it was absolutely safe, nobody was there and I knew I could duck behind an obstacle,” he told Reuters on Friday.
“And if he shoots in my direction, he won’t have the people fleeing, they will have a chance to reach cover. I screamed at him and he started shooting in my direction.”
National day of mourning
The Czech government has declared Saturday a national day of mourning to honour the shooting victims, prime minister Petr Fiala said.
It comes after the deadliest shooting in the nation’s history took place in a university building in central Prague on Thursday.
Students, politicians and civilians alike gathered outside the university on Friday in mourning.
Among those paying their respects to the dead at the university was the Czech president Petr Pavel. He said: “No one can imagine the fear and mental strain they went through yesterday. From the bottom of my heart, I would like to thank everyone for the sincere condolences and words of support, which come from all around the world.”
Do we know what led to the attack?
The gunman’s motives for the attack or not yet known, but police were reportedly already searching for David Kozak at the time of the incident.
Authorities are probing the potential connection between a series of violent, expletive-laden Russian-language messages posted on Telegram, including a message posted by the shooter saying: “I always wanted to kill. I thought I would be a maniac in the future.”
One of the messages posted by the user indicated that inspiration for the attack may have been drawn from two previous mass shootings in Russia—one occurring this month at a school in Bryansk near the Ukraine border, and the second in 2021 in Kazan, the capital of the Russian region of Tatarstan.
“I was very inspired by Alina … very much,” a message shared on 10 December said, just three days after a 14-year-old Russian girl, Alina Afanaskina, opened fire on her classmates.
It is not thought that Kozak was linked to any extremist ideology or groups.
All victims in Prague shooting identified, say authorities
All 14 victims in Prague’s university shooting have been identified, the Czech authorities announced on Friday.
None of the victims were foreign citizens, interior minister Vit Rakusan told reporters. Czech Police have already contacted the families of the deceased and the injured, the minister added.
“Most of the injured are in stable condition, with one person currently in serious condition.”Lenka Hlávková, the head of the Charles University’s Institute of Music Sciences, was named as one of the victims of the attack.
National newspaper Lidovky identified its proofreader and student, Lucie Špindlerová, as one of the people killed in the attack.
Two UAE and one Dutch citizen among those wounded in Prague shooting
Two citizens from the United Arab Emirates and one from the Netherlands were among the two dozen people who sustained injuries during the mass shooting in Prague, interior minister Vit Rakusan said.
At least 14 people were killed in a shooting rampage after a 24-year-old gunman opened fire at the Charles University in Prague on Thursday afternoon.
The shooter, identified as David Kozak, turned the gun to himself after being cornered by the city police.
Gunman was ‘excellent student’, says police chief
The gunman behind the Czech Republic’s worst-ever mass shooting has been identified as 24-year-old David Kozak.
He lived in a village, located 20km outside Prague, and was a student of history at the university, authorities said on Friday.
He was an “excellent student”, Prague police chief Martin Vondrasek said, adding that the student legally owned several guns and was heavily armed during the incident.
Watch: Moment armed police storm Prague university after shooting captured in bodycam footage
Bodycam footage released by Czech Police shows officers turning up and entering the university building before scaling the steps in search of the suspect.
Officers are then seen searching classrooms before carrying injured victims on a stretcher outside.
You can watch it in full below. A warning, the footage may be be distressing to watch.
‘Piles of ammunition’ in University corridor
The director of Prague Police told a press conference on Friday that there was “piles of ammunition” in the corridors of the Charles University Faculty of Arts building.
He was responding to criticisim from people on social media who say police cornered gunman David Kozak too quickly.
He defended his officers, saying they had a challenging job to first locate the shooter, while protesting members of the public.
He said: “I can say that I believe the fast response and arrival of police officers on the scene prevented further bloodshed and further victims.
“What I saw inside the corridors, which were piles of ammunition, unbelievable quantities, if that person hadn’t been cornered in time he might, or might not of have continued.
“Given what I’ve seen and what he was prepared for I really need to thank my people for professional response.”
Who is David Kozák?
The identity of the gunman has now been revealed to be student David Kozák, who had reportedly been studying for a masters degree in world history with a special focus on the history of Poland.
Local media have reported that Kozák originally graduated with a bachelor’s degree in history and was described as an excellent student with no previous criminal convictions.
His father’s body had been found earlier in the day in his hometown of Hostoun. Police were already searching for Kozák at the time of the mass shooting in relation to another death in the village of Kladensko.
He is suspected of being responsible for the murders of a father and his four-month-old baby daughter, who were killed in a forest on 15 December.
At a press conference, police spokesperson Martin Vondráček said: “We are working very seriously with the fact that the attacker from the Faculty of Philosophy is also responsible for the two victims from the end of last week in Klanovicky les.”
Timeline of events leading up to the shooting
12.26pm - Police received a call from someone saying her friend had sent her a suicidal text message, and was not responding to calls
12.40pm - Report of body found in the village of Hostoun. Search of home finds weapons.
12.42pm - Report of suspect who said he was going to kill himself was on his way to Prague
13.15pm - National search is declared for suspect.
13.27pm - Request for police to carry out search of Faculty of Arts at Charles University
13.49pm - More information received that the suspect is in the Faculty of Arts building
14.59pm - The shooting begins
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