Man goes ER at prague university

EVEN WHEN THE NEWS IS FREE, JOURNALISM IS NOT.
SUPPORT INDEPENDENT, FACT-BASED JOURNALISM.
DONATE
AP Logo
Menu
Show Search




















  • 90
















Israel-Hamas war
Prague shooting
Honda recall
Trump legal issues
Rudy Giuliani bankruptcy
WORLD NEWS

A lone gunman opens fire in a Prague university, killing 14 people and injuring 25​











0 seconds of 29 secondsVolume 0%












00:13







00:00
00:29




More Videos

03:32
Associated Press investigation finds missteps by Detroit police allowed a serial killer to roam free
02:09
Drone footage of Iceland volcano eruption shows spectacular lava flow
01:48
Supporters defend Trump's immigration comments
00:51
Death toll in Gaza continues to rise
01:53
Donald Trump banned from Colorado ballot
00:39
Colorado Supreme Court bans Trump from the state’s ballot under Constitution’s insurrection clause
00:59
AP Top Stories December 21 P
01:57
Groups sue over new Texas law that lets police arrest migrants who enter the US illegally, AP explains
01:15
Deadly earthquake rattles northwestern China
00:47
Lebanon celebrates Christmas amid war and crisis

Close

A mass shooting in downtown Prague killed at least 10 people and injured about 30 others, and the person who opened fire also is dead, Czech police and the city’s rescue service said Thursday. (Dec. 21).
Photos
20
BY KAREL JANICEK
Updated 7:20 PM GMT-3, December 21, 2023
Share
PRAGUE (AP) — A student opened fire Thursday at a university in Prague, killing at least 14 people, officials said, and injuring more than 20 in the Czech Republic’s worst mass shooting.
The bloodshed took place in the philosophy department building of Charles University, where the shooter was a student, Prague Police Chief Martin Vondrasek said. The gunman also died, authorities said. His name has not been released.
Vondrasek said in the evening that 14 people had died and 25 were injured, after earlier reporting that 15 had died and 24 were hurt. He didn’t explain the change. Authorities warned that the death toll could rise.
Police gave no details about the victims or a possible motive for the shooting at the building located near the Vltava River in Jan Palach Square. Czech Interior Minister Vit Rakusan said investigators do not suspect a link to any extremist ideology or groups.
Vondrasek said police believe the gunman killed his father earlier Thursday in his hometown of Hostoun, just west of Prague, and that he had also been planning to kill himself. He didn’t elaborate.
Later Thursday, Vondrasek said that based on a search of his home, the gunman was also suspected in the killing of another man and his 2-month-old daughter Dec. 15, in Prague.


The chief described the shooter as an excellent student with no criminal record, but didn’t provide any other information.
The gunman suffered “devastating injuries” but it wasn’t clear if he killed himself or was shot to death in an exchange of gunfire with officers, Vondrasek said, adding that there was “nothing to suggest that he had an accomplice.”
MORE WORLD NEWS
A Ukrainian police officer takes cover in front of a burning building that was hit in a Russian airstrike in Avdiivka, Ukraine, Friday, March 17, 2023. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
Ukraine ends year disappointed by stalemate with Russia, and anxious about aid from allies
Election officials compare figures while counting votes at a polling station in Goma, eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, Wednesday, Dec. 20, 2023. Lengthy delays at the polls forced officials on Wednesday to extend voting in Congo's presidential election as many residents in the mineral-rich West African nation struggled to cast ballots because of steep logistical and security challenges, raising concerns about the integrity of the process. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa)
Congo conducts a 2nd day of voting after delays and closed polls keep people from casting ballots
FILE - Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi speaks during the trilateral foreign ministers' meeting with South Korea and Japan, in Busan, South Korea, Sunday, Nov. 26, 2023. Foreign Minister Wang said Wednesday, Dec. 20, 2023, the country will maintain military pressure on the Philippines amid a dispute over sovereignty in the South China Sea that could involve U.S. forces defending their treaty partner.(AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon. Pool, File)
China vows to keep up military pressure on the Philippines as territorial dispute grows tenser
The shooter legally owned several guns — police said he was heavily armed Thursday and was carrying a lot of ammunition — and that what he did was “well thought out, a horrible act,” Vondrasek said.
University authorities said they would tighten security in university buildings with immediate effect.
“We mourn the loss of life of members of our university community, express our deepest condolences to all the bereaved and our thoughts are with all those affected by the tragedy,” Charles University said in a statement.
The building where the shooting took place is near the Vltava River in Jan Palach Square, a busy tourist area in Prague’s Old Town. It is just a few minutes’ walk from the picturesque Old Town Square, a major tourist attraction where a popular Christmas market attracts thousands of visitors.
The government quickly sought to quell concerns that the massacre was back by foreign interests.
“There’s no indication that it has anything to do with international terrorism,” Rakusan said.
“It’s a horrible crime, something the Czech Republic has never experienced,” he said.
Pavel Nedoma, the director of the nearby Rudolfinum Gallery, said he watched from a window as a person standing on a balcony of the building fired a gun.
Authorities evacuated everyone from the building and police said they were still searching the area, including the balcony, for explosives.
The building forms part of the square and faces a bridge across the river with a view of Prague Castle, the seat of the Czech presidency. President Petr Pavel said he was “shocked” by what happened and offered his condolences to the relatives of the victims, as did leaders of Germany, France and Slovakia, the European Union and Israel.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre sent a message of condolence.
“The president and the first lady are praying for the families who lost loved ones and everyone else who has been affected by this senseless act of violence,” Jean-Pierre said. “On behalf of the United States, we send our condolences and also wish the survivors of this tragic event a speedy recovery.”
The Czech government declared Saturday a national day of mourning to honor the shooting victims, Prime Minister Petr Fiala said.
Previously, the nation’s worst mass shooting was in 2015, when a gunman opened fire in the southeastern town of Uhersky Brod, killing eight before fatally shooting himself.
On Thursday, where tourists, students and others would normally be enjoying the view of the iconic monument, chaos and terror instead took hold. Police vehicles and ambulances sped across the bridge with their sirens wailing. Officers sealed off the empty square.
Some video footage showed people being evacuated from the building and others trying to hide behind a wall.
Ivo Havranek, a diving instructor, said he was near the building when he heard a shot ring out, but he didn’t quite believe that was what he had heard.
“Only at the moment when I saw the fully equipped riot police with bulletproof vests and shields, it looked to me that I had found myself in a movie,” Havranek said. “But it was obvious that nobody was shooting a movie.”

___​

Associated Press video journalist Stanislav Hodina in Prague and writer Zeke Miller in Washington, D.C., contributed.





The Associated Press is an independent global news organization dedicated to factual reporting. Founded in 1846, AP today remains the most trusted source of fast, accurate, unbiased news in all formats and the essential provider of the technology and services vital to the news business. More than half the world’s population sees AP journalism every day.

Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
 
White brah went off
 

Similar threads

lestoa
Replies
3
Views
211
MANLETprettyBOY
MANLETprettyBOY
Beastimmung
Replies
24
Views
489
InanimatePragmatist
InanimatePragmatist
BigJimsWornOutTires
Replies
29
Views
425
BigJimsWornOutTires
BigJimsWornOutTires
lestoa
Replies
17
Views
429
MoggerGaston
MoggerGaston

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top