A 24-year-old Czech student shot dead his father and then proceeded to kill 14 people while injuring 25 others at his Prague university, making it the deadliest mass shooting in the country’s history, reported international news outlets.
The gunman also died, but authorities have not disclosed any information about the victims or the potential motive behind the shooting.
The incident occurred in the philosophy department building of Charles University, prompting President Petr Pavel to declare December 23 as a day of mourning, with flags on official buildings to be flown at half-mast and a minute of silence to be observed at noon.
Some students sought refuge by locking themselves in classrooms to evade the gunfire, while a photo circulating on social media depicted several individuals hiding on an exterior ledge of a building.
The shooter had traveled to Prague from his hometown village of Hostouň, according to Prague Police Chief Martin Vondrasek. Vondrasek mentioned that a search of the gunman’s home led to suspicions of his involvement in the killing of another man and his 2-month-old daughter in Prague on December 15.
The Dutch Foreign Affairs Ministry reported that one of the injured individuals was a Dutch national.