PRAGUE — The Czech Republic will observe a nationwide day of mourning on December 23 for the victims of a mass taking pictures at a college in central Prague that left 14 folks lifeless and 25 others wounded.
Within the Prague metropolis heart, folks started paying their respects to the victims on December 22 by lighting candles exterior Charles College buildings.
Fellow college students, pals of the victims, and others gathered for an impromptu vigil. Some knelt to mild candles and lay flowers, whereas others cried and hugged one another.
Prime Minister Petr Fiala and U.S. Ambassador Bijan Sabet have been amongst those that paid tribute to the victims.
The college’s rector, Milena Kralickova, was additionally among the many throngs of individuals on the vigil. The educational neighborhood, she stated, had been ”shaken, deeply shaken” by the taking pictures.
Inside Minister Vit Rakusan stated all 14 victims of the taking pictures on December 21 at Charles College’s School of Arts constructing had been recognized. The authorities didn’t launch any names, however the Institute of Music Sciences confirmed that its head, Lenka Hlavkova, was among the many lifeless.
WATCH: Extra particulars are rising of a person who went on a killing spree within the Czech capital, Prague, killing 14 folks and injuring extra. Police say the killer was a 24-year-old scholar, who traveled to Prague after killing his father in a village exterior town.
There have been no foreigners amongst these killed, however one citizen of the Netherlands and two from the United Arab Emirates have been injured.
The nationwide police confirmed that the gunman died by suicide.
Petr Matejcek, the director of the police regional headquarters in Prague, stated the gunman killed himself on the balcony of the college constructing as officers closed in. Police haven’t launched the gunman’s title, however stated they consider he was Czech.
Authorities stated he had no prison file, and police have launched no particulars a few doable motive. Investigators stated they discovered no hyperlink to any extremist ideology or teams and believed he acted alone.
Following the assault — the nation’s worst mass taking pictures — the nationwide police introduced they’ve elevated safety round public buildings and colleges, that are closed for the Christmas vacation, throughout the nation. Lectures and occasions at Charles College have been canceled.
The nationwide police confused that the measures have been preventative and that no particular threats had been recognized.
Nationwide police chief Martin Vondrasek stated police consider the shooter killed his father in his hometown of Hostoun west of Prague earlier within the day, and police are investigating whether or not he is identical assailant who killed a 32-year-old man and his 2-month-old daughter on December 15 in a park in Prague.
The shooter was reportedly a scholar at Charles College, and Czech media stated the police have been wanting into social media posts allegedly written by the shooter to find out if there was a hyperlink to the assault.
The Czech newspaper Hospodarske noviny, citing a police report it had considered, reported that the gunman had been handled up to now for psychological issues and legally owned 12 weapons, together with a semiautomatic rifle, a shotgun, and pistols together with silencers.
The police report stated that the gunman arrived on the college with a suitcase stuffed with ammunition. Police stated he had a license to personal eight weapons, together with two lengthy weapons.
When requested at a information convention the way it was doable the shooter had such quite a few weapons, Tomas Kubik, a deputy police chief stated: “We must work out if it’s a results of a flaw within the system or human error.”
The police report stated that the gunman, recognized solely as ”DK,” had arrived at Charles College’s School of Arts constructing situated on Jan Palach Sq. with a suitcase carrying ammunition. No explosives have been discovered within the constructing.
Czech President Petr Pavel stated he was ”shocked” by what occurred and supplied his condolences to the family of the victims, as did leaders of Germany, France, Slovakia, the European Union, and Israel.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog wrote on X, previously Twitter, that the folks of Israel ”empathize with the ache of the Czech folks.”
The White Home stated america is able to help the Czech Republic as wanted.
”Federal authorities are in contact with Czech authorities as they examine this incident, and we stand prepared to supply extra help as wanted,” White Home Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre stated.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy additionally reacted with shock and disappointment. ”I categorical my honest condolences to the households of the victims and need the injured a speedy restoration, he stated on X.
Following the assault, which befell about 6 kilometers from RFE/RL’s headquarters, appearing RFE/RL President Jeffrey Gedmin stated that ”RFE/RL joins with our neighborhood in Prague in expressing solidarity with all affected by at the moment’s stunning occasions at Charles College.”
The taking pictures triggered panic all through the closely touristed heart of Prague. Movies confirmed the shooter positioned on a terrace of Charles College’s School of the Arts constructing firing onto the big sq. beneath. One police automobile was struck in the course of the taking pictures, in accordance with the police report considered by Hospodarske noviny.
Mass shootings are uncommon in Europe, however there have been at the very least three others this yr. A gunman in March within the German metropolis of Hamburg shot lifeless six folks and wounded eight earlier than killing himself.
The opposite two befell in Serbia in a single week in Could. A 13-year-old boy gunned down eight fellow college students and a safety guard in a Belgrade faculty. Two days later, a gunman killed eight folks and wounded 14 others in a village close to the Serbian capital.