Gun owned by Prague shooter WAS used to slay father and child

Police as we speak confirmed a gun owned by the shooter who massacred 14 individuals in Prague was used to slay a father and his two-month-old child every week in the past. 

David Kozak, 24, was suspected of being behind the slaying of the 32-year-old father, named regionally as Martin, and his daughter as she lay in her pram throughout a stroll via a forest in Klanovice, close to Prague, on December 15.

But now Czech police, who’ve been looking Kozak’s dwelling since he launched his lethal rampage at Charles University, have confirmed {that a} weapon discovered on the property was used to shoot useless Martin and his child after working forensic assessments.

The investigation into these murders, which had shocked Prague, had stalled after police had discovered no weapon regardless of combing the forest for clues for hours. That it’s till now, with proof confirming that Kozak had killed the daddy and child.

The chilling double-murder is now feared to have been a ‘dry run’ for the carnage he unleashed yesterday, with the gunman concentrating on college students and vacationers from the balcony of the college’s philosophy constructing six days later. 

Before launching his lethal rampage on the college yesterday, throughout which Kozak was filmed taking shot after shot at his victims, the historical past pupil had murdered his father and texted his feminine pal to say he was suicidal.

During a search of his dwelling, police additionally discovered a selfmade bomb within the cellar in addition to his father’s useless physique. A police supply advised La Stampa the selfmade system consisted of a ‘cylinder, ammunition, pyrotechnic materials and chemical substances’. 

‘The cellar appeared like a bunker. The bottle was massive, it had a number of cables linked to it, resulting in different tools. In my opinion, it contained a system that will have brought about an explosion,’ the supply near the investigation stated.  

More particulars are additionally rising about Kozak, with those that knew him describing him as an introverted historical past ‘nerd’ who was fascinated with weapons and hated the world. Kozak, who was a Master’s pupil of historical past at Charles University, had accomplished his undergraduate thesis on nineteenth century Polish historical past.

It comes as the primary two victims of the mass capturing have been recognized as Lenka Hlávková, a director on the college, and pupil Lucie Špindlerová. 

Lenka, who was the director of the Institute of Music Science on the University’s philosophy division, was confirmed as one of many victims of the ‘merciless assault’

The Institute shared an image of the mother-of-two whereas her colleagues stated they have been ‘totally devastated’ that Lenka, who spent her profession devoted to learning the historical past of music within the Czech Republic, had been ‘senselessly’ murdered.

The second sufferer was named as Lucie Špindlerová, a proof reader for the newspaper Lidové Noviny. She is alleged to have been a primary yr pupil of Czech signal language. 

It comes as dramatic police bodycam footage exhibits cops racing via Charles University to seek for Kozak earlier than they discovered the killer useless on the roof. 

The tense footage exhibits elite cops sprinting in direction of the constructing and sprinting up the steps in direction of the highest floods in a bid to search out Kozak who was choosing off his victims one after the other from the balcony. 

The courageous elite cops barged via a door to the balcony and pictures exhibits Kozak’s physique mendacity on the ground. Police stated Kozak, realizing he was surrounded by cops, had killed himself along with his shotgun after throwing his elite long-range rifle off the balcony.

Harrowing video exhibits different law enforcement officials discovering injured college students inside a classroom and desperately attempting to stem their blood loss earlier than evacuating them from the constructing.

The injured victims have been rushed to hospitals throughout the town for remedy, with the pinnacle of 1 emergency division saying she had ‘by no means seen so many individuals shot without delay’. 

‘I’ve by no means seen so many individuals shot without delay and such in depth gunshot wounds in my twenty years of medical apply,’ Jiří Karásek, the pinnacle of the emergency division on the Faculty Hospital in Motola on the outskirts of Prague, advised Idnes.

Karásek stated six individuals of their 20s, almost certainly college students, and a lady in her 60s, have been delivered to the hospital after being shot.  

It comes as sickening footage emerged of Kozak taking shot after shot at his victims from the balcony of the college constructing as a hero shouted ‘shoot right here you f***er’ in a bid to distract him.

Kozak, who was a Master’s pupil of historical past on the college, is seen standing on the balcony and aiming his highly effective ZEV-30 rifle at individuals under, choosing his victims off one after the other.

Kozak, sporting all black, will be seen strolling calmly alongside the balcony and taking goal on the terrified college students fleeing the college and vacationers who had been gathered within the fashionable sq. under.

On the bottom, a heroic man will be heard screaming ‘shoot me you f***er’ in a determined and valiant bid to distract the shooter and save the lives of others, experiences newspaper Blesk. 

But the 24-year-old ignores his pleas and continues to fireplace in fast succession at his victims under as the person frantically tells police the place precisely Kozak is situated on the balcony via a walkie-talkie, urging them to ‘take a shot’ on the shooter.

The shooter pauses once more, taking cowl beneath a Ukrainian flag, earlier than strolling to the sting of the balcony and resting his rifle – which has the facility to pierce via physique armour – on the bannister. He spots victims fleeing and fires two pictures in fast succession because the heroic man screams from under.

The sickening footage exhibits simply how calm and composed the shooter was as he unleashed terror within the mass capturing – the worst within the Czech Republic’s trendy historical past – as he shot useless 14 victims.

Czech police as we speak launched bodycam footage of scholars being evacuated from the constructing with their palms up earlier than officers raced via the constructing to seek for Kozak.

The elite officers sprinted up the steps and as much as the roof the place they discovered Kozak’s useless physique. 

Police stated Kozak had been attempting to cover behind the pillars of the balcony in order to not get shot by officers who have been on the bottom. 

But as he realised he was surrounded by police, he threw his long-range gun off to the bottom – and all he had left was his shotgun. 

Police stated: ‘As we have been getting near him on the balcony, Kozak killed himself.’ 

Other extraordinary pictures present terrified college students cowering on a ledge excessive up on a balcony in a bid to cover from the gunman after others have been advised to barricade themselves in school rooms. 

It comes because the Czech police stated as we speak that they’d recognized all 14 victims and advised their households, with the federal government saying a day of mourning on Saturday. The Interior ministry stated there have been two UAE residents and one Dutch individual among the many injured.

At 12.26pm yesterday, a lady from the village of Hostouň referred to as police to inform them Kozak had despatched her a suicidal textual content message and isn’t responding to her telephone calls. 

Ten minutes later, at 12.40pm, police within the space found the physique of Kozak’s father after he had murdered him in addition to tools resembling an ‘explosive system’ within the household dwelling.

But when police arrived at Kozak’s household dwelling, he was already 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 stated he was closely armed Thursday and was carrying a variety of ammunition – and that what he did was ‘effectively thought out, a horrible act,’ Vondrasek stated. 

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 useless 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 saved a diary in Russian on messaging app Telegram, writing in a single chilling put up: ‘I need to do a college capturing and probably suicide.’

It emerged final night time that police are investigating whether or not Kozak might have killed a father, 32, named regionally as Martin 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 the moment probing whether or not the 2 killing sprees could possibly be linked.

Thursday’s bloodbath is the Czech Republic’s worst ever mass capturing, and the gunman is believed to have been impressed by a college capturing carried out by 14-year-old schoolgirl in Russia earlier this month.

‘I need to do college capturing and probably suicide, Alina Afanaskina helped me an excessive amount of,’ he allegedly wrote on December 10 of the Bryansk college shooter, who killed two college students earlier than taking her personal life. 

The chilling put up in what the author referred to as their ‘diary’ about ‘life earlier than the capturing’ went on: ‘I at all times wished to kill, I believed I might develop into a maniac sooner or later.’ 

Just 5 days after the disturbing posts appeared on-line, a father named regionally as Martin and child lady have been shot useless in Klanovice, a forest space exterior of Prague.

More than 250 police have been despatched to go looking the realm and a helicopter with thermal imaging was used to scour the woodland space, however the gunman was by no means discovered.

At the time, police spokesman Jan Rybanský advised iDNES.cz.: ‘The case is being labored on by a workforce of a number of dozen of essentially the most skilled criminologists, who have been additionally bolstered by colleagues from the Office of the Criminal Police Service and Investigations of the Police Presidium.’

Horrified associates of Martin stated: ‘I keep in mind him as a trainee from the camp and from the vacationer part. He was pleasant and up for each joke.

‘After college, he centered on himself and began taking part in a variety of sports activities. On that event he met his future spouse.

‘This summer time he talked about how completely happy he’s in his life. He stated he had an exquisite spouse, a baby and extra on the way in which. What else may you want for. He appeared completely happy.

‘Who would do such a factor’.

As investigations into the double homicide proceed, Czech police now should assess how a mass killing was capable of happen simply days later, a half an hour drive away in Prague – and whether or not the 2 assaults have been each carried out by Kozak.

‘As far as Klanovicky les is worried, it’s not recognized that the victims have been in any method linked to the perpetrator. I’m satisfied that the victims have been utterly randomly chosen by an individual with none prison historical past,’ police spokesman Martin Vondráček stated on Thursday night time.

Vondráček revealed on the press convention: ‘We are working very severely with the truth that the attacker from the Faculty of Philosophy can also be chargeable for the 2 victims from the tip of final week in Klanovicky les.’

Horrific scenes unfolded on the historic Charles University campus on Thursday, with footage displaying the gunman wearing black aiming a rifle at individuals under whereas standing on high of the distinguished school’s Faculty of Arts constructing.

Terrified college students and vacationers have been seen fleeing whereas others crouched beneath a window ledge on the excessive constructing as gunshots rang out in what’s certainly one of Europe’s high vacationer hotspots. Reports have instructed that one individual died after falling from a constructing as they took cowl.

There are fears that vacationers could possibly be amongst these killed or the 25 injured in as we speak’s capturing, with police working to determine the victims and saying they are going to contact embassies with updates within the occasion of overseas nationals being affected within the atrocity.

Elite cops have been seen storming the philosophy division constructing of Charles University, the place the gunman was a pupil, with police saying the gunman had been ‘eradicated’ at 4pm – an hour after the lethal carnage started.

Police stated the gunman’s physique had been discovered within the space and instructed he had taken his personal life when cops closed in on him – although cops did say they’d fired at him.

‘Due to the devastating damage sustained by the suspect, we’re unable to substantiate his id,’ Vondráček stated. ‘From the knowledge obtainable to me, there ought to have been a suicide, nevertheless, the police additionally used a service weapon.’ 

He added that the demise toll may have been a lot greater: ‘There was a big amount of ammunition and if the police hadn’t entered the constructing in time, the perpetrator would not have been useless on the roof and there would have been much more victims.’ 

Dramatic video confirmed terrified crowds of vacationers and locals sprinting throughout the well-known Charles Bridge – certainly one of Europe’s high vacationer websites – after they heard the sickening sound of gunshots within the metropolis.

The gunman fired at his victims one after the other from the highest of the college constructing – two hours after he’s stated to have murdered his father within the city of Hostoun. 

In separate footage, individuals have been seen working with their palms raised within the air from the distinguished University’s Faculty of Arts constructing within the capital, as armed law enforcement officials swooped in. 

The capturing began at 3pm and police stated the gunman was ‘eradicated’ at 4pm after elite cops have been seen storming the constructing. At least 14 individuals have been killed within the capturing and greater than 20 have been injured – 11 severely, Prague’s emergency companies stated. 

British vacationer Joe Hyland, who was on his first vacation overseas along with his group of associates, stated they have been apprehensive there may have been a number of attackers, and rushed to textual content their family members in case the worst occurred.

‘As we obtained onto the tube and we do not know what number of attackers there are and we do not know what the attackers are, so it the tube the very best place or the worst place to go? So we determined to ring our mother and father to say we cherished them and name our associates,’ he advised the BBC.

Speaking from Prague, his pal added: ‘It’s our first vacation as us boys. When one thing like that occurs you name you family members as a result of you do not know within the confusion if you’re going to have the ability to communicate to them.’

A British father and daughter additionally witnessed the chaos unfold. The unnamed man advised The Sun: ‘My daughter stated, ‘Dad, lookup there, there is a man on the roof’. And abruptly it simply went psychological, it appeared like a load of firecrackers. 

‘I might have stated about 30 individuals obtained shot. There was a man mendacity useless on the precise hand aspect of the sq.. He was shot within the chest.’

A college member of the college, Zora Hesova, stated individuals have been locked in school rooms contained in the constructing as armed law enforcement officials descended on the scene. 

Police later stated they killed the gunman after they stormed the constructing and have evacuated everybody who was trapped inside.

‘The gunman was eradicated!!!’ police stated on X, previously Twitter. ‘The constructing is at the moment being evacuated and there are a number of useless and dozens of wounded individuals on the scene.’ 

Extraordinary pictures present the gunman, who was wearing black, standing on the roof of the college constructing and pointing his rifle with a scope mounted on high at individuals down under. 

Petr Nedoma, the director of the Rudolfinum – a live performance corridor on the sq. throughout from the Faculty of Arts – advised Czech broadcaster CT24: ‘Upstairs on the walkway of the Faculty of Arts, I noticed a person standing with a gun in his hand and capturing in direction of the Mánes bridge with sure delays. 

‘I watched what was occurring from contained in the Rudolfinum for a very long time. I stayed within the constructing and was by the home windows for as a lot cowl as potential.’

Nedoma added: ‘Then he put his palms up and threw the gun in direction of the highway, it remained mendacity by the philosophy school. Then lots of people appeared upstairs, I do not know if it was the police. 

‘I left the window and watched the police evacuate individuals from the Faculty of Philosophy, taking them away with their palms behind their heads in numerous instructions, a lot of vehicles, individuals working round.’ 

Terrified lecturers and college students on the Charles University Faculty of Arts have been instructed to lock themselves in school rooms earlier than they have been evacuated.

Klara, a pupil, advised information website iDnes.cz  she was amongst those that police evacuated from the constructing.

‘It was terribly scary, there have been a variety of policemen in every single place, who have been shouting at us with submachine weapons, telling us to run exterior,’ she stated.

An electronic mail despatched to employees and college students on the Faculty of Arts of Charles University had stated a shooter was in certainly one of its buildings and had advised employees to ‘keep put’.

‘Don’t go wherever, in case you’re within the places of work, lock them and place furnishings in entrance of the door, flip off the lights,’ the e-mail stated. 

One pupil, Deda Mrazek, stated she was within the college’s library when the gunman started capturing at his victims. 

Sharing an image of scholars hiding at the back of a pc lab, Deda wrote: ‘I’m OK. I used to be within the library on the time of the capturing. 

‘They despatched us to the again of the pc lab the place there aren’t any home windows. Word has now unfold that the gunman is useless.’ 

She stated as quickly as they heard the gunman had been killed, the terrified college students all referred to as their households to say that they have been protected. 

The police have sealed off the sq. and the realm adjoining to the college constructing, which is situated in a busy a part of city that has a preferred avenue main vacationers to Old Town Square 

‘According to preliminary info, the shooter himself needs to be useless, there are useless and wounded on website, I can’t speculate now concerning the remaining quantity,’ Interior Minister Vit Rakusan stated on Czech Television.

Rakusan added ‘no different gunman has been confirmed’ and referred to as on individuals to comply with police directions. 

Police within the Czech Republic’s capital have urged residents to shelter inside and keep away from the realm as a result of capturing. 

President Petr Pavel tweeted: ‘I’m shocked by the occasions on the Faculty of Arts of Charles University.

‘I want to specific my deep remorse and honest condolences to the households and relations of the victims that the capturing claimed. 

‘I need to thank the residents for respecting the directions of the safety forces and offering most cooperation.’

The British Embassy in Prague has urged individuals within the metropolis, which is fashionable with vacationers, to keep away from the across the Charles University and the Faculty of Arts. 

Prime Minister Petr Fiala cancelled his journey to the east of the nation and was en path to Prague, he stated on X.

Gun crime is comparatively uncommon within the Czech Republic. In December 2019, a 42-year-old gunman killed six individuals at a hospital ready room within the jap Czech metropolis of Ostrava earlier than fleeing and fatally capturing himself, police stated.

In 2015, a person fatally shot eight individuals after which killed himself at a restaurant in Uhersky Brod.