Terrifying second Prague gunman David Kozak takes shot after shot

The gunman who unleashed terror on Prague took shot after shot at his victims from the balcony of a prime college constructing as a hero shouted ‘shoot right here you f***er’ in a bid to distract him, chilling footage has revealed.

David Kozak, 24, killed 14 folks and injured 25 – ten critically – through the lethal rampage by which he focused college students and vacationers from the balcony of the Charles University’s philosophy constructing.

Sickening video has now emerged of Kozak, who was a Master’s pupil of historical past on the college, standing on the balcony and aiming his rifle at folks under, selecting his victims off one after the other.

Kozak, carrying all black, will be seen strolling calmly alongside the balcony and taking purpose on the terrified college students fleeing the college and vacationers who had been gathered within the standard 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, stories newspaper Blesk. 

But the 24-year-old ignores his pleas and continues to fireside in fast succession at his victims under as the person frantically tells police the place precisely Kozak is positioned on the balcony by means of 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 on the bannister. He spots victims fleeing and fires two photographs 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 taking pictures – the worst within the Czech Republic’s fashionable historical past – as he shot lifeless 14 victims.

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 hearth at Kozak whereas he was nonetheless making an attempt to shoot extra victims, Police President Martin Vondrášek mentioned. 

Other extraordinary photos 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 advised to barricade themselves in school rooms. 

It comes because the Czech police mentioned right now that 13 out of the 14 victims have been recognized, with the federal government saying a day of mourning on Saturday. 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 taking pictures folks 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 lots 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 assumed to have stored a diary in Russian on messaging app Telegram, writing in a single chilling publish: ‘I wish to do a faculty taking pictures and probably suicide.’

It emerged final evening 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 presently probing whether or not the 2 killing sprees could possibly be linked.

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

‘I wish to do college taking pictures 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 publish in what the author referred to as their ‘diary’ about ‘life earlier than the taking pictures’ went on: ‘I at all times wished to kill, I assumed I’d change into a maniac sooner or later.’ 

Just 5 days after the disturbing posts appeared on-line, a father and child woman had been shot lifeless in Klanovice, a forest space outdoors of Prague.

More than 250 police had been despatched to look 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 crew of a number of dozen of essentially the most skilled criminologists, who had been additionally strengthened by colleagues from the Office of the Criminal Police Service and Investigations of the Police Presidium.’

Horrified pals of the lifeless man mentioned: ‘I bear 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 lots of sports activities. On that event he met his future spouse.

‘This summer season he talked about how completely satisfied he’s in his life. He mentioned he had a lovely spouse, a baby and extra on the best way. What else might you would like for. He seemed completely satisfied.

‘Who would do such a factor’.

As investigations into the double homicide proceed, Czech police now must 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 had been each carried out by Kozak.

‘As far as Klanovicky les is anxious, it isn’t identified that the victims had been in any manner related to the perpetrator. I’m satisfied that the victims had been fully randomly chosen by an individual with none prison historical past,’ police spokesman Martin Vondráček mentioned on Thursday evening.

Vondráček revealed on the press convention: ‘We are working very critically with the truth that the attacker from the Faculty of Philosophy can be liable 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 photos exhibiting the gunman wearing black aiming a rifle at folks under whereas standing on prime of the celebrated school’s Faculty of Arts constructing.

Terrified college students and vacationers had been seen fleeing whereas others crouched beneath a window ledge on the excessive constructing as gunshots rang out in what’s one in every of Europe’s prime vacationer hotspots. Reports have instructed that one particular person 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 right now’s taking pictures, with police working to determine the victims and saying they’ll contact embassies with updates within the occasion of international nationals being affected within the atrocity.

Elite cops had 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 mentioned 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 verify his id,’ Vondráček mentioned. ‘From the data accessible to me, there ought to have been a suicide, nonetheless, the police additionally used a service weapon.’ 

He added that the demise toll might have been a lot increased: ‘There was a big amount of ammunition and 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.’ 

Dramatic video confirmed terrified crowds of vacationers and locals sprinting throughout the well-known Charles Bridge – one in every of Europe’s prime 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 mentioned to have murdered his father within the city of Hostoun. 

In separate footage, folks had been seen working with their palms raised within the air from the celebrated University’s Faculty of Arts constructing within the capital, as armed cops swooped in. 

The taking pictures began at 3pm and police mentioned the gunman was ‘eradicated’ at 4pm after elite cops had been seen storming the constructing. At least 14 folks had been killed within the taking pictures and greater than 20 had been injured – 11 critically, Prague’s emergency providers mentioned. 

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

‘As we acquired 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 liked them and name our pals,’ he advised the BBC.

Speaking from Prague, his good friend 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 converse to them.’

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

‘I’d have mentioned about 30 folks acquired shot. There was a man mendacity lifeless on the fitting hand facet of the sq.. He was shot within the chest.’

A college member of the college, Zora Hesova, mentioned folks had been locked in school rooms contained in the constructing as armed cops descended on the scene. 

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

‘The gunman was eradicated!!!’ police mentioned on X, previously Twitter. ‘The constructing is presently being evacuated and there are a number of lifeless and dozens of wounded folks on the scene.’ 

Extraordinary photos present the gunman, who was wearing black, standing on the roof of the college constructing and pointing his rifle with a scope mounted on prime at folks 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 taking pictures in the direction of the Mánes bridge with sure delays. 

‘I watched what was taking place 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 doable.’

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

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

Terrified lecturers and college students on the Charles University Faculty of Arts had been instructed to lock themselves in school rooms earlier than they had 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 lots of policemen all over the place, who had been shouting at us with submachine weapons, telling us to run outdoors,’ she mentioned.

An e-mail despatched to workers and college students on the Faculty of Arts of Charles University had mentioned a shooter was in one in every of its buildings and had advised workers to ‘keep put’.

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

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

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

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

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

The police have sealed off the sq. and the realm adjoining to the college constructing, which is positioned 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 ought to be lifeless, there are lifeless and wounded on website, I cannot speculate now in regards to the last quantity,’ Interior Minister Vit Rakusan mentioned on Czech Television.

Rakusan added ‘no different gunman has been confirmed’ and referred to as on folks to observe police directions. 

Police within the Czech Republic’s capital have urged residents to shelter inside and keep away from the realm because of the taking pictures. 

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

‘I want to categorical my deep remorse and honest condolences to the households and family of the victims that the taking pictures claimed. 

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

The British Embassy in Prague has urged folks within the metropolis, which is standard 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 mentioned on X.

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

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