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2023 Prague shootings

Coordinates: 50°05′21″N 14°24′58″E / 50.08917°N 14.41611°E / 50.08917; 14.41611
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2023 Prague shooting
2023 Prague shootings is located in Prague city centre
2023 Prague shootings
2023 Prague shootings (Prague city centre)
Locationnear Faculty of Arts, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic
Coordinates50°05′21″N 14°24′58″E / 50.08917°N 14.41611°E / 50.08917; 14.41611
Date21 December 2023
c. 3:20 p.m. – (CET, UTC+1)
Attack type
School shooting, mass shooting, spree shooting, mass murder, patricide
Deaths16+ (including the perpetrator and perpetrator’s father)
Injured25

On 21 December 2023, at least 15 people, including the suspect,[1][2][3] were killed in a mass shooting at the Faculty of Arts, Charles University on Jan Palach Square in central Prague, Czech Republic.[4][5][6] Twenty-five more were injured, nine of them critically. Police arrived and closed off a large area surrounding the scene of the shooting.[6][7] As police arrived, the gunman killed himself and the university building was evacuated.[6][8] Police reported that the perpetrator's father was found dead earlier in the day, before the shooting began.[2]

The incident is the deadliest mass shooting in the Czech Republic's history since the dissolution of Czechoslovakia in 1993[9] and is one of the worst mass shootings in Europe since the November 2015 Paris attacks.[10]

Events

Police believe that the suspect was planning to kill himself.[11] At 12:40 CET, police located the body of the suspect's father in his hometown of Hostouň. At 14:00, police evacuated a building at Charles University in Prague. At 14:59, police received the first reports of the shooting at a different building. It was reported that the shots came from the roof of the faculty of arts building of the university.[1] At 15:20, the police found the shooter dead.[12] Police later searched Jan Palach Square and a balcony for explosives.[13]

Suspect

According to Pavel Nedoma, director of the nearby Rudolfinum Gallery, a man was seen on a balcony firing toward the Mánes Bridge, over the Vltava River. A police officer with Interpol Prague said that the perpetrator was a 24-year-old world history student from the city of Kladno, 24 kilometers from Prague. It is thought that the shooter was inspired by other mass shootings abroad.[1][14]

A video by news reporter Jiří Forman shows the suspect at the school, with a rifle. The news reporter then shouts at the suspect to shoot at him and his crew, so that the suspect doesn't shoot at the students evacuating the building.[15]

Reactions

Domestic

Czech Interior Minister Vít Rakušan said that there were no other shooters, but urged everyone to cooperate with police. Prime Minister Petr Fiala canceled his scheduled events in Olomouc and headed to Prague shortly after the shooting.[1][16] Czech President Petr Pavel expressed his condolences to the family and friends of the victims and shock over the shooting, in an X tweet, posted at 17:01.[17] Rakušan said investigators do not suspect an ideological or extremist link.[18]

International

European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen stated she expresses her "deepest condolences to the families of the victims and to the Czech people as a whole". White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre stated president Joe Biden and his wife Jill were praying for the families of the victims.[10]

Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated via X that he “wished those injured a speedy recovery” and that he expressed his “sincere condolences to families of the victims”. [19]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Higgins, Andrew; Gross, Jenny (21 December 2023). "15 Dead in Czech Republic After Shooting at Prague University". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 21 December 2023. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
  2. ^ a b "Prague shooting: Gunman kills at least 15 people at Charles university". The Independent. 21 December 2023. Archived from the original on 21 December 2023. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
  3. ^ Soukup, Jaroslav (21 December 2023). "Masovým vrahem je 24letý student univerzity - Novinky". www.novinky.cz (in Czech). Archived from the original on 21 December 2023. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
  4. ^ "Prague shooting: Several dead and dozens injured in university shooting". BBC. 21 December 2023. Archived from the original on 21 December 2023. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
  5. ^ Laca, Peter (21 December 2023). "Several Dead, Wounded in Prague University Shooting, Police Say". Bloomberg.com. Archived from the original on 21 December 2023. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
  6. ^ a b c Nohl, Radek; Svihel, Petr. "Po střelbě na Filozofické fakultě je deset mrtvých, další jsou vážně zranění". Seznamzpravy. Archived from the original on 21 December 2023. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
  7. ^ "10 dead and others wounded in shooting at Prague university, emergency services say". CNN. 21 December 2023. Archived from the original on 21 December 2023. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
  8. ^ "Czech police say people have been killed in a shooting in downtown Prague". Houston Chronicle. 21 December 2023. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
  9. ^ "What we know about the mass shooting in Prague". BBC News. 21 December 2023. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
  10. ^ a b De Vynck, Gerrit; Brady, Kate (21 December 2023). "At least 15 dead in shootings at university in Prague". The Washington Post. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
  11. ^ "At least 15 people die in a mass shooting at a Prague university". AP News. 21 December 2023. Archived from the original on 21 December 2023. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
  12. ^ Bayer, Lili (21 December 2023). "At least 15 dead and dozens injured in Prague university shooting, Czech police say – as it happened". the Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 21 December 2023. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
  13. ^ "Police chief says at least 15 people are dead after a mass shooting at a Prague university". ny1.com. Archived from the original on 21 December 2023. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
  14. ^ "Prague shooting: Gunman at Prague university who killed 15 was student - police". BBC News. Archived from the original on 21 December 2023. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
  15. ^ Barber, Harriet; Styllis, George; Crisp, James (21 December 2023). "Prague shooting latest: Prague university shooter killed father before gunning down 15". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Archived from the original on 21 December 2023. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
  16. ^ "10 people are killed in a mass shooting in downtown Prague". NPR. 21 December 2023. Archived from the original on 21 December 2023. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
  17. ^ Pavel, Petr. "X (Twitter)".
  18. ^ "At least 15 people are dead after a mass shooting at a Prague university, police chief says". AP News. 21 December 2023. Archived from the original on 21 December 2023. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
  19. ^ Barber, Harriet; Styllis, George; Crisp, James (21 December 2023). "Prague shooting: Prague university shooter killed father before gunning down 15". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
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