Day of mourning declared after 14 killed in Prague mass capturing
- Czech authorities introduced tomorrow can be a day of mourning after assault
The Czech Republic declared Saturday a day of mourning after a gunman killed 14 individuals in Prague within the nation’s worst mass capturing in historical past.
David Kozak, 24, killed 14 individuals and injured 25 – ten critically – throughout the lethal rampage by which he focused college students and vacationers from the balcony of the Charles University’s philosophy constructing.
The Czech authorities introduced tomorrow can be a day of mourning, with flags on official buildings to be flown at half-mast and folks requested to watch a minute’s silence at midday (11am GMT).
Today, Charles University raised black flags within the victims’ honour and cancelled all lectures and occasions following the capturing.
People have been lighting candles exterior the college’s medieval downtown headquarters since Thursday night, and leaders of the nation’s universities deliberate to pay respects there afterward Friday morning.
A chilling picture reveals Kozak wearing black aiming a rifle at individuals under whereas standing on high of a college constructing
Other extraordinary photographs present terrified college students cowering on a ledge excessive up on a college in a bid to cover from the gunman after others had been informed to barricade themselves in lecture rooms
Student David Kozak, 24, has been named because the killer by native police
The gunman started his assault at 3pm yesterday and by 4pm, police mentioned he had been ‘eradicated’ after elite cops had been seen storming the constructing.
The cops opened fireplace at Kozak whereas he was nonetheless making an attempt to shoot extra victims, Police President Martin Vondrášek mentioned.
Extraordinary photographs present terrified college students cowering on a ledge excessive up on a balcony in a bid to cover from the gunman after others had been informed to barricade themselves in lecture rooms.
It comes because the Czech police mentioned at present that 13 out of the 14 victims have been recognized. The Interior ministry mentioned there have been two UAE residents and one Dutch particular person among the many injured.
Kozak murdered his father in his hometown of Hostoun earlier than travelling the 13 miles into the Czech capital the place he started randomly capturing individuals from the balcony of Charles University’s philosophy constructing.
The shooter legally owned a number of weapons – police mentioned he was closely armed Thursday and was carrying a variety of ammunition – and that what he did was ‘nicely thought out, a horrible act,’ Vondrasek mentioned.
He had an enormous arsenal of weapons and ammunition with him, with the nation’s Interior Minister saying that ‘if the police hadn’t entered the constructing in time, the perpetrator would not have been lifeless on the roof and there would have been much more victims.’
In the lead as much as his killing spree, Kozak is believed to have stored a diary in Russian on messaging app Telegram, writing in a single chilling submit: ‘I wish to do a college capturing and presumably suicide.’
It emerged final night time that police are investigating whether or not Kozak might have killed a father, 32, and his two-month-old daughter in Klanovice, close to Prague. Hundreds of police combed the wooded space after the perpetrator disappeared, and authorities are at present probing whether or not the 2 killing sprees could possibly be linked.
Today, Charles University raised black flags within the victims’ honour and cancelled all lectures and occasions following the capturing
Young individuals mild candles at a makeshift memorial for the victims exterior the Charles University in central Prague on Friday
Prime Minister of the Czech Republic Petr Fiala lays flowers exterior Charles University constructing on Friday
‘I wish to do faculty capturing and presumably suicide, Alina Afanaskina helped me an excessive amount of,’ he allegedly wrote on December 10 of the Bryansk faculty shooter, who killed two college students earlier than taking her personal life.
The chilling submit in what the author known as their ‘diary’ about ‘life earlier than the capturing’ went on: ‘I all the time needed to kill, I assumed I’d turn into a maniac sooner or later.’
Prime Minister Petr Fiala mentioned the ‘lone gunman… wasted many lives of principally younger individuals’.
‘There is not any justification for this horrendous act,’ he added.
Though mass gun violence is uncommon within the Czech Republic, the nation has been rocked by some cases lately.
A 63-year-old man shot seven males and a lady lifeless in 2015 earlier than killing himself in a restaurant within the southeastern city of Uhersky Brod.
In 2019, a person killed six individuals within the ready room of a hospital within the jap metropolis of Ostrava, with one other girl dying days later. The man shot himself lifeless about three hours after the assault.
Though mass gun violence is uncommon within the Czech Republic, the nation has been rocked by some cases lately.
A 63-year-old man shot seven males and a lady lifeless in 2015 earlier than killing himself in a restaurant within the southeastern city of Uhersky Brod.
In 2019, a person killed six individuals within the ready room of a hospital within the jap metropolis of Ostrava, with one other girl dying days later. The man shot himself lifeless about three hours after the assault.
