2023-12-21 20:44:25
It is the shooting attack with the highest number of deaths at least since the Central European country became independent in 1993.
SÃO PAULO, SP (FOLHAPRESS)
A shooting attack at a university in the central region of Prague, capital of the Czech Republic, left at least 15 dead, including the shooter, this Thursday (21). Another 25 people were injured, ten of whom are in serious condition.
It is the shooting attack with the highest number of deaths at least since the Central European country became independent in 1993. The shooter was 24 years old and an arts student at Charles University, police said.
Shortly before carrying out the attack at the educational institution, he had also killed his father at home. There are no details about the motivation for the crime and, in a country where shooting attacks similar to this are uncommon, the police stated in their initial comments that believe that the author of the attack was inspired by similar massacres that occurred in other nations. The hypothesis of terrorism was promptly discarded by the agents.
Martin Vondrasek, the local police chief, said initial information from social media shows he may have been inspired by a similar attack in Russia in early October. The shooter, the officer said, possesses several legally obtained firearms.
The police did not mention what the episode would be on Russian territory. In recent months, Russia has seen more than one school shooting attack. At the end of September, for example, a shooter wearing a T-shirt with the Nazi swastika symbol killed 15 people, including 11 children, before committing suicide.
The attack at Charles University this Thursday occurred shortly after 3pm local time (11am in Brasília), and the shooter was initially positioned on the fourth floor, leaning on the railing. Jan Palach Square, in the historic heart of Prague and where the institution is located, was cordoned off by the police.
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The police told reporters that the shooter belonged to a village about 21 kilometers from the capital, in the Kladno region, and that his father was found dead hours before the attack, implying that the son had also murdered his father. The police are still investigating whether the shooter committed suicide or died after being shot by one of the officers.
Police are investigating the possibility that the shooter was responsible for two other deaths last week in the Klanovicky forest, near Prague. The victims would have been chosen at random. The government also reported that “a large quantity” of the shooter’s weapons were found at the university.
Czech President Petr Pavel said he was “shocked” and expressed solidarity with the families of the victims. The former general was elected at the beginning of this year with a speech focused on foreign policy, notably the aid provided to Ukraine at war, and this Thursday’s attack is shaping up to be one of the greatest challenges he will face.
Speaking just hours after the episode, Interior Minister Vít Rakuan called the attack “an insane act unprecedented in the country’s history.” “It is a tragedy that will certainly have many consequences for the university environment, for relatives and friends of the victims.”
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During the attack, an email sent to staff and students at the Faculty of Arts at Charles University obtained by the news agency Archyde.com reported that a shooter was in one of the institution’s buildings and that people should remain “quiet”. “They’re not going anywhere. Lock yourself in and place furniture in front of the door. Turn off the lights,” the message said.
Videos posted on social media show several people running across a tourist bridge in Prague. In another recording, dozens of vehicles are in the center of the Czech capital, and noises that appear to be gunshots can be heard. A photograph shows a group of students hiding on a building’s parapet. The images could not be independently verified.
According to the BBC network, the shooter, identified as David K., had the profile of a participating student at the university. He would participate in a lecture in one of the institution’s buildings hours before the attack.
Thursday afternoon’s attack at Charles University’s arts faculty is the worst fatal shooting since Czech independence 30 years ago.
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The most recent gun attack occurred in December 2019, at a hospital in Ostrava, when a man opened fire in the waiting room of a trauma clinic and killed four men and two women, before turning the gun on himself.
In February 2015, a local man opened fire in a restaurant in the eastern town of Uhersky Brod. Eight people died in the attack.
But, although shooting attacks are uncommon, hunting with firearms is widely common in the country. Also for this reason, Prague tried, in vain, to overturn the ban established by the European Union on automatic rifles for private use.
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The measure was put into practice by the European bloc, of which the Czech Republic is a member, after jihadist terrorist attacks in 2015. At the time, the country argued that the rules were unduly restrictive even against those who own firearms and follow the law , like the hunters, and therefore filed an appeal to the EU Court of Justice, which was rejected in 2019.
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