15 dead in Prague shooting, including gunman, emergency services say

By Isaac M December 22, 2023

Police say 14 people, including a gunman, have died in a mass shooting in central Prague, according to Czech emergency services.

At least 25 others have also been wounded – with 10 seriously injured – according to the Czech police.

The body of the gunman – a 24-year-old student at Charles University in Prague, named in Czech media as “David K” – was discovered in one of the university’s buildings, according to officials.

Police said the gunman’s father was also found dead at a property in Hostoun, a village to the west of the Czech capital, earlier on Thursday.

Prague police president Martin Vondrasek said investigators were looking at whether the gunman had been “inspired” by a previous mass shooting in Russia, following reports in Czech media that he had posted on social media prior to the attack.

Mr Vondrasek said police had evacuated another university building – where the student had been due to attend a lecture on Thursday – prior to the shooting.

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People hiding on a building ledge amid a mass shooting in Prague

The suspect – who has not yet been named by police – legally owned several guns, according to Mr Vondrasek.

And while he has not previously been known to the police, the gunman is, following the search of his home, now a suspect in the killing of another man and his two-month-old daughter in the east of Prague earlier this month, according to Mr Vondrasek.

Thursday’s mass shooting is the deadliest in the modern history of Czechia (formerly the Czech Republic) – the last being in 2019, when six people were killed by a gunman, who later took his own life, in the Ostrava hospital attack.

Prague Mayor Bohuslav Svoboda told Czech television: “We always thought that this was a thing that did not concern us.

“Now it turns out that, unfortunately, our world is also changing and the problem of the individual gunman is emerging here as well.”

A police officer secures the area following the shooting at one of the buildings of Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic, December 21, 2023. REUTERS/David W Cerny
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A police officer secures the area

Police officers in a van secure the area in downtown Prague, Czech Republic, Thursday, Dec. 21, 2023. Czech police say a shooting in downtown Prague has killed an unspecified number of people and wounded others. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)
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Police officers in a van secure the area. Pic: AP Photo/Petr David Josek

‘Senseless violence’

Czech interior minister, Vit Rakusan, has travelled to the scene, while prime minister Petr Fiala has declared 23 December a day of national mourning.

In a press conference on Thursday night, Mr Fiala said he was “shocked” by what happened and offered his condolences to the relatives of the victims.

He also said the situation was “fully under control”, that the shooter acted alone, and there was “no further danger” to those in the area.

“Let us all think about those who lost their loved ones and for whom this year’s Christmas will be incredibly sad,” he added.

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Czech PM: ‘Christmas will be incredibly sad’

“Let us share their sadness in this pain. In this difficult moment, we should all come together and show our mutual understanding and in this way express our respect towards the victims of this brutal crime.”

Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, said she was “shocked by the senseless violence of the shooting”.

“I express my deepest condolences to the families of the victims and to the Czech people as a whole. We stand and mourn with you,” she said on X, formerly Twitter.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the US stood “ready to provide additional support as needed” to Czech authorities.

Prague shooting
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People hide on a ledge on the outside of a building during the shooting

Pic:CTK/AP
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An armed officer on the roof following the shooting. Pic:CTK/AP

An armed police officer takes position near the area of a shooting at one of the buildings of Charles University, in Prague, Czech Republic, December 21, 2023, as seen in this screen grab taken from a social media video. Ivo Havranek/via REUTERS THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. MANDATORY CREDIT. NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVES.
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An armed police officer takes position near the area of a shooting

The incident took place in the area of Jan Palach Square, in the city’s Old Town district.

It is just a few minutes’ walk from the picturesque Old Town Square, a major tourist attraction where thousands of visitors have been enjoying a popular Christmas market.

The area is home to the Academy of Arts, Architecture, and Design, as well as the philosophical faculty of Charles University, where Mr Vondrasek said the bloodshed took place.

A map showing Jan Palach Square, where the shooting took place
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A map showing Jan Palach Square, where the shooting took place

Staff at the faculty of arts of Charles University were sent an emergency email during the shooting in which staff were urged to “stay put”, according to Reuters.

“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, according to the news agency.

One X user posted a photo of a group of students, hiding crouched on a building ledge.

Other pictures posted on social media showed students barricading themselves into classrooms.

A police officer patrols the closed Manes Bridge heading towards Jan Palach Square, where shots were fired in the Faculty of Arts building, in Prague, Czech Republic
Pic:CTK/AP
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A police officer patrols the closed Manes Bridge following a shooting.
Pic:CTK/AP

An ambulance drives towards the building of Philosophical Faculty of Charles University in downtown Prague, Czech Republic
Pic:AP
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An ambulance drives towards the building of Philosophical Faculty of Charles University in downtown Prague, Czech Republic
Pic:AP

Ambulances and police at Ales Embankment, where shots were fired in the Faculty of Arts building (in background), in Prague, Czech Republic, on December 21, 2023. Pictured tourist boat on River Vltava. Photo/Vit Simanek (CTK via AP Images)
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Ambulances and police at the scene. Pic: Vit Simanek (CTK via AP Images)

Klara, a student at the university, told local media that she was among those who police evacuated from the building.

“It was terribly scary,” she told iDnes.cz.

“There were a lot of policemen everywhere, who were shouting at us with submachine guns, telling us to run outside.”

Prague mayor Bohuslav Svoboda said both The Philosophical Faculty of Charles University and the Academy of Arts, Architecture, and Design, had been evacuated during the shooting.

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Petr Nedoma, director of the Rudolfinum Gallery at a concert hall across Palach Square, told Czech television he saw the gunman with an “automatic weapon”.

He said he saw the gunman put his hands up before throwing the weapon down on the street, where it landed on a pedestrian crossing.

Meanwhile, a British couple who were visiting Prague as part of their honeymoon, said they were ordered to stay down by police during the shooting.

Tom Leese, 34, a video producer, and his wife Rachael, 31, an account director, from Merstham in Surrey, who told of the moment a police officer ordered them to stay down during a mass shooting in central Prague
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Tom Leese, 34, a video producer, and his wife Rachael, 31, were in central Prague when the shooting took place

Tom Leese, 34, a video producer and his wife Rachael, 31, an account director, from Surrey, said they were having a drink in the Slivovitz Museum, close to where the shooting took place, when a policeman burst in.

“He started shouting loudly in what I assume was Czech,” Mr Leese said.

“I asked for it in English, and he said there was an active shooter and to stay inside and stay down.

“The staff were very calm, turned all the lights off very quickly and urged us to stay calm.”

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