Prague, Dec 21 – In a heart-wrenching incident at Charles University, a gunman took the lives of at least 15 people and left 24 others wounded, marking a devastating chapter in the city’s history. The assailant, identified as a student at the university, was subsequently “eliminated” by law enforcement, according to reports from police and Prague emergency services.
The tragic events unfolded at the Jan Palach Square campus, where Czech police swiftly responded to the shooting at the faculty of arts building shortly after 3 p.m. (1400 GMT). Earlier in the day, the shooter’s father, also discovered deceased, added a grim layer to the unfolding tragedy.
Prague Mayor Bohuslav Svoboda expressed the shock permeating the community, stating, “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 shooter is emerging here as well.”
Eyewitness accounts painted a harrowing picture of the incident, with Petr Nedoma, director of the Rudolfinum Gallery, describing the shooter as a young person wielding an automatic weapon. Nedoma recounted seeing the shooter firing toward the Manes Bridge, eventually surrendering and discarding the weapon on the street.
Authorities promptly sealed off the area surrounding the university building, located in a bustling part of the city frequented by tourists en route to Old Town Square. Live broadcasts from Czech TV showcased a significant presence of ambulances and police cars with flashing lights, indicating the scale of the emergency response.
Describing the scene, a witness revealed to news website iDnes.cz, “I suddenly heard shooting” as they disembarked from a tram stop near the school. Students faced a frightening evacuation, with one student, Klara, expressing the terrifying experience: “It was terribly scary, there were a lot of policemen everywhere, who were shouting at us with submachine guns, telling us to run outside.”
An email circulated among staff and students warned of the ongoing threat, instructing recipients to stay in place, secure offices, and take precautions, such as turning off lights.
Prime Minister Petr Fiala altered his plans in response to the tragedy, canceling a scheduled trip to the east of the country and redirecting to Prague, emphasizing the gravity of the situation.
Gun crime is a rare occurrence in Prague, with the last major incident occurring in December 2019 when a 42-year-old gunman killed six people in a hospital waiting room in Ostrava before taking his own life. In 2015, another incident saw a man fatally shoot eight people at a restaurant in Uhersky Brod before also committing suicide.
