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The gunman behind the Czech Republic’s worst-ever mass shooting has been identified as 24-year-old David Kozak.
He opened fire at the Charles University in Prague on Thursday afternoon, killing at least 14 people and injuring more than 20.
The gunman, a history student at the university, began shooting on the fourth floor of the building with legally owned weapons. Crowds of people fled for their lives as panic took over the country’s capital.
Kozak is believed to have killed his father before carrying out the university massacre. He’s also suspected of killing a man and his four-month-old daughter in Prague a week ago, the city’s police chief Martin Vondrasek has said.
Czech authorities are also probing the potential connection between Kozak and a series of Russian-language messages posted on Telegram.
One of the messages indicated that the attack may have been influenced by two previous mass shootings in Russia—one this month at a school in Bryansk near the Ukraine border, and the other in 2021 in Kazan.
Gunman named
The gunman who killed 14 people after opening fire at Charles University in Prague has been named as David Kozak.
The 24-year-old opened fire from the fourth floor of the philosophy department building of Charles University, where the gunman was a student, Prague Police Chief Martin Vondrasek said.
Kozak is also believed by police to have killed his father before the attack on Thursday. He’s also suspected in the killing of another man and his two-month-old daughter on December 15 in Prague.
He was described as an excellent student with no criminal record.
‘Piles of ammunition’ in University corridor
The director of Prague Police told a press conference on Friday that there was “piles of ammunition” in the corridors of the Charles University Faculty of Arts building.
He was responding to criticisim from people on social media who say police cornered gunman David Kozak too quickly.
He defended his officers, saying they had a challenging job to first locate the shooter, while protesting members of the public.
He said: “I can say that I believe the fast response and arrival of police officers on the scene prevented further bloodshed and further victims.
“What I saw inside the corridors, which were piles of ammunition, unbelievable quantities, if that person hadn’t been cornered in time he might, or might not of have continued.
“Given what I’ve seen and what he was prepared for I really need to thank my people for professional response.”
Who is David Kozák?
The identity of the gunman has now been revealed to be student David Kozák, who had reportedly been studying for a masters degree in world history with a special focus on the history of Poland.
Local media have reported that Kozák originally graduated with a bachelor’s degree in history and was described as an excellent student with no previous criminal convictions.
His father’s body had been found earlier in the day in his hometown of Hostoun. Police were already searching for Kozák at the time of the mass shooting in relation to another death in the village of Kladensko.
He is suspected of being responsible for the murders of a father and his four-month-old baby daughter, who were killed in a forest on 15 December.
At a press conference, police spokesperson Martin Vondráček said: “We are working very seriously with the fact that the attacker from the Faculty of Philosophy is also responsible for the two victims from the end of last week in Klanovicky les.”
Timeline of events leading up to the shooting
12.26pm - Police received a call from someone saying her friend had sent her a suicidal text message, and was not responding to calls
12.40pm - Report of body found in the village of Hostoun. Search of home finds weapons.
12.42pm - Report of suspect who said he was going to kill himself was on his way to Prague
13.15pm - National search is declared for suspect.
13.27pm - Request for police to carry out search of Faculty of Arts at Charles University
13.49pm - More information received that the suspect is in the Faculty of Arts building
14.59pm - The shooting begins
In pictures: Candles and flowers laid outside Charles University
First victim named
The first victim of the mass shooting yesterday was named on Friday as Lenka Hlávková.
The Institute of Music Science at Charles University’s philosophy department posted a message of “deep regret” over her death on its Facebook page.
It read: “On the basis of verified information from the family and with their permission, we are announcing that our colleague and director of the Institute of Musicology of the Faculty of Music of the Faculty of Music, Lenka Hlávková did not survive yesterday’s attack.
“We express our deepest condolences to all the bereaved, first and foremost to the family. This is extremely cruel news for all of us. Let’s stay in support of each other.”
No other victims have been named yet.
Lenka Hlávková, who died in yesterday’s attack at Charles University in Prague
Witness account from man who was shot at
Jiri Forman, a Czech journalist, witnessed yesterday’s attack at Charles University.
The reporter bravely shouted at the gunman from Jan Palach Square in an attempt to stop him from shooting at students and filmed the incident.
“Hey, you f****r, here I am, shoot here!” He screamed.
Asked by an officer what was he doing, Forman is heard in the footage shouting: “So that he doesn’t shoot at the people! What do you think I’m am I doing, man? There are people there!”
His actions have won him plaudits in Czech media, but Forman played down suggestions he was a hero.
“Where I stood it was absolutely safe, nobody was there and I knew I could duck behind an obstacle,” he told Reuters on Friday.
“And if he shoots in my direction, he won’t have the people fleeing, they will have a chance to reach cover. I screamed at him and he started shooting in my direction.”
“The policeman I believe shot three times at the attacker. I think this threw him off balance. Then he also hears that police are getting close from inside, so he shot himself,” Mr Forman said.
He added: “I did things I believed were right, and unfortunately, the sad heroes are the relatives who lost their closest ones at this Christmas time, and policemen and rescue services.”
Where did the shooting take place?
Lone gunman David Kozak shot 14 people dead at Charles University in Prague on Thursday.
The attack happened in the Faculty of Arts building in Jan Palach Square in the city centre, just an eight-minute walk from Prague’s busy Christmas market.
Earlier in the day, a friend of Kozak’s had alerted police to a message she had received from him threatening to commit suicide. Officers then discovered Kozak’s father dead in his home and put out a search warrant for the 24-year-old.
Having determined he was going to Prague, police evacuated another Charles University building he was due to attend a lecture in at 2pm.
Shortly after, the shooting began in the Faculty of Arts.
Watch: Mourners lay tributes at Prague university after at least 14 killed in mass shooting
At the Charles University headquarters, crowds that included Prime Minister Petr Fiala and US Ambassador Bijan Sabet paid tribute to the victims. Some knelt to light candles and lay flowers while others stood crying and hugging each other.
Charles University cancelled all lectures and events on Friday a day after the shooting in the central European country of 10.9 million where over 300,000 people own guns but mass shootings are rare.
“We are here to show our support as fellow students,” said Czech student Daniel Broz.
“I was on the other side of the river and hearing gunshots, pops and not knowing what is going on and then a flurry of police cars passing by was absolutely surreal especially as a Czech who has never witnessed an event similar to this before.”
Piles of ammunition and barricaded classrooms: Police reveal how Prague mass shooting unfolded
As Prague mourns its dead and tries to recover from the deadliest mass shooting in the Czech Republic’s history, police revealed how events unfolded on Thursday.
A student at the university, Kozak is believed to have killed his father in his hometown of Hostoun before travelling 24km (15 miles) to the country’s capital to launch the devastating attack.
As more information is revealed about yesterday’s horrific mass shooting in central Prague, Alex Ross takes a closer look at how the incident unfolded according to authorities:
Read the full report below:
https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMic2h0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmluZGVwZW5kZW50LmNvLnVrL25ld3Mvd29ybGQvZXVyb3BlL3ByYWd1ZS1tYXNzLXNob290aW5nLWNoYXJsZXMtdW5pdmVyc2l0eS1ndW5tYW4tbGF0ZXN0LWIyNDY4MTk4Lmh0bWzSAQA?oc=5
2023-12-23 01:00:00Z
CBMic2h0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmluZGVwZW5kZW50LmNvLnVrL25ld3Mvd29ybGQvZXVyb3BlL3ByYWd1ZS1tYXNzLXNob290aW5nLWNoYXJsZXMtdW5pdmVyc2l0eS1ndW5tYW4tbGF0ZXN0LWIyNDY4MTk4Lmh0bWzSAQA
