- •Shooter ‘eliminated’, police say
A gunman killed 15 people and wounded dozens of others at a Prague university yesterday, before the police “eliminated” him, authorities said.
The violence in the Czech capital’s historic centre sparked panic, a massive police response and warnings for people to stay indoors.
The bloodshed took place in the philosophy department building of Charles University, where the shooter was a student, Prague Police Chief Martin Vondrasek said. He has not been named publicly.
“More than 15 people have lost their lives and at least 24 have been wounded,” Vondrasek told reporters following the shooting.
“The building is currently being evacuated and there are several dead and dozens of wounded people on the scene,” police wrote earlier on X.
Police said they were still searching the area, including the balcony, for possible explosives. The building was evacuated, Prague Mayor Bohuslav Svoboda said.
An email sent to staff and students at the Faculty of Arts of Charles University, seen by Reuters, had said a shooter was in one of its buildings and had told staff to “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,” the email said.
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One X user posted a photo of a group of students, hiding crouched on a ledge of the building.
The police have sealed off the square and the area adjacent to the university building, which is located in a busy part of town that has a popular street leading tourists to Old Town Square
“According to preliminary information, the shooter himself should be dead, there are dead and wounded on site, I will not speculate now about the final number,” Interior Minister Vit Rakusan said on Czech Television.
Prime Minister Petr Fiala cancelled his trip to the east of the country and was en route to Prague, he said on X.
Gun crime is relatively rare in the Czech Republic. In December 2019, a 42-year-old gunman killed six people at a hospital waiting room in the eastern Czech city of Ostrava before fleeing and fatally shooting himself, police said.
In 2015, a man fatally shot eight people and then killed himself at a restaurant in Uhersky Brod.