At least fifteen people died and more than thirty were injured in the shooting that took place in the center of Prague on Thursday afternoon, at the Ján Palach Square building of the Faculty of Arts of Charles University, the Prague ambulance service announced.
“The numbers may still change, the condition of nine people is very serious, and 5-6 are moderately serious,” said their previous statement. “We rendered the shooter harmless. There are dead people and several dozen injured at the scene,” said the police spokeswoman Michaela Richterová. According to witnesses who spoke on public service news television, the police shot the assassin dead on the spot. The information of the Seznam Zprávy news portal that the perpetrator is a 24-year-old student of the Faculty of Arts was neither confirmed nor denied by the police.
The causes of the tragedy are still unknown. Several media outlets reported that the young man had previously shot and killed his father, and police issued a warrant for him at noon on Thursday. After that, the serious incident happened.
Monika Nováková, spokeswoman for the rescue service in Central Bohemia, confirmed to the CTK news agency that a police commando and rescuers found a body in the afternoon at the apartment of the suspected perpetrator in Hostoun near Kladno, whose identification is in progress.
Shortly after the shooting, the police and emergency services moved to Palach square in large forces, and the building of the Faculty of Arts and its surroundings were immediately sealed off. At the time of the shots, there were about 200-300 people in the building of the Faculty of Humanities, and there were also many people in the surrounding area. The police asked the citizens of Prague and tourists to avoid the area if possible, and the residents there not to leave their homes. According to the footage taken at the scene, students exited the building with their hands raised while it was being evacuated. Leading Czech politicians expressed their shock at the unprecedented tragedy in Prague. However, a few years earlier, similar tragedies with several victims took place in Uhersky Brod and Ostrava. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior Vít Rakusan did not rule out the need for extraordinary security measures.
Photos: X (Twitter)
