Shot dead by the police, the assailant of the attack which occurred in Prague this Thursday in the Czech Republic is said to be a certain David K., aged 24. He allegedly first killed his father before going to a university building.
Drama in the Czech Republic. On the afternoon of Thursday, December 21, an individual opened fire in Charles University, right in the heart ofœheart of Prague. The prestigious establishment is located near the most touristy area of the city. The latest report shows more than 15 deaths and‘at least 24 injured, Czech police announced early in the evening. The main suspect was shot dead by the police. It seems that it is a certain David K. According to the Czech media Lidové Noviny, the young man would be a Czech history student. It is also reported that he suffered from psychological disorders.
The killing also does not seem to have any link with “international terrorism”, as Interior Minister Vit Rakusan assured. Lidové Noviny relays for his part that at the time of the attack at the university, David K. was already wanted by the police because he had already killed his father in his native village. It is also mentioned that he could have planted a homemade bomb in this same village before going to the capital. Bomb that ultimately didn’t work.
“At 12:45 p.m., police were informed that a 24-year-old man was supposed to leave the village of Hostoun for Prague, claiming he wanted to commit suicide. A dead man was found in the village from which he left, it was the father of the attacker,” police chief Martin Vondrasek explained at a press conference, affirming in passing that it would be a “premeditated” act. If the shooter’s motivations remain unclear at this stage, Czech media Lidové Noviny reports that David K apparently used an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle to shoot the students. The shooting in Prague is the deadliest in the history of the Czech Republic to date.
Terrible news coming to us from Prague. A shooter is said to have left several dead and several injured near the beautiful Charles University. My thoughts to the Czech people struck by this tragedy and to the many French students there pic.twitter.com/BhNqIjNNYN
— Frédéric Petit (@fpetitAN) December 21, 2023
The Modem deputy for French people living abroad residing in the Czech Republic, Frédéric Petit, posted images online to reflect the climate of fear in Prague. Students were holed up in classrooms before evacuation operations were carried out. “They evacuated us all, it was terribly scary, there were a lot of police everywhere with machine guns shouting at us to run away,” Klára, a student, told the daily MFDnes.