Massacre of at least 15 people at Prague university shocks Czechs

The shooting that occurred this Thursday killed at least fifteen people and injured 24 others in the heart of Prague shocked Czech society, where this type of crime is until now very uncommon.

Panic spread in Charles University in Prague and its tourist surroundings when David K.a 24-year-old student, began shooting indiscriminately at his fellow students at the Faculty of Philosophy at around 2:30 pm GMT.

Hearing screams and the sound of gunshots, many students locked themselves in their classrooms and filmed the scenes they shared on social media with their cell phones.

In them it is possible to see young people lying on the floor, away from the windows, while other images show students crouched on ledges located on top of the university building’s facade, located in the central Plaza de Jan Palach.

Televisions also showed how many people fled the scene via the emblematic Charles Bridge.

Police forces, who arrived at the scene, isolated the area and cut off traffic and urban transport, and reported about an hour later the death of the attacker, David K.

A police officer stands guard as an ambulance heads to the scene of a shooting in central Prague, December 21, 2023 | Photo: EFE/EPA/MARTIN DIVISEK

He was a 24-year-old student who He committed suicide in a corridor at the Faculty when he found himself being chased there by the police.reported the Chief of Police, Martin Vondracekin an appearance before the press.

Early investigations suggest that he acted alone and that this attack was the largest in the history of the Czech Republic. He has no terrorist background.

According to the investigation portal Seznam Zpravy, the man lived in Kladnoan industrial city twenty kilometers west of Prague, where He is suspected of murdering his father before committing multiple homicide. at the University.

???? #URGENT | The moment of the attack in the university area of ​​Prague, Czech Republic. pic.twitter.com/SovFM3nI8y

— World in Conflict ???? (@MundoEConflicto) December 21, 2023

“A quiet and introverted boy. “He didn’t have much fun with us” a colleague of the young man, who successfully completed high school in History, told the aforementioned portal.

He wrote in Cyrillic on the social network Telegram, where he created a profile on December 9th and from where He even made threats and even said he was going to commit suicide, something that the police confirmed.

On this network, the suspect wrote that he was inspired by Alin Afanashikna young man from a secondary school in Bryansk (Russia), suspected of having committed an attack on the 7th in which two people died.

Apparently he owned several weapons. Some images show a long gun with a telescopic sight as the murder weapon.

The lights of emergency service vehicles illuminate the scene of a shooting at Charles University, in the center of Prague, on December 21, 2023. According to Czech police, several people died and “dozens” were injured in an incident that occurred in the capital from the Czech Republic | Photo: EFE/EPA/MARTIN DIVISEK

At 5:30 pm local time (4:30 pm GMT), the building was completely evacuated and all the injured were transferred to various hospitals in the capital.

The Prime Minister, the Conservative Peter Fialainterrupted a working visit to Olomouc (in the east of the country) and returned to Prague for an emergency meeting of his cabinet, after which he intends to appear before the press.

The Minister of the Interior, Vit Rakusansaid in statements on public television that the situation is under control and there is no indication that there is a second shooter.

The President of the Czech Republic, Peter Pavel, He expressed his deepest regret and deepest condolences to the families of the shooting victims through his X social media account.

The president’s office reported that Pavel will urgently return from an official trip to France, after which he will meet with state security forces.

Source: Elcomercio