At least 14 dead, 24 injured in Prague university shooting; suspect killed himself
Dec. 21 (UPI) -- Czech police said at least 14 people were killed and 24 more were wounded in a shooting at a university in Prague on Thursday. The suspect killed himself, according to police.
During a Prague press conference, police identified the assailant as David K. Speaking, a 24-year-old world history student at Charles University. Czech Police President Martin Vondrasek said Speaking "got inspired by a similar terrible event abroad" without specifying where that event occurred.
At first, authorities had said 15 people had been killed in the attacks before later revising the death toll to 14.
According to the New York Times, Telegram social media messages in Russian posted under the name David Kozak were being investigated.
One of those messages was posted three days after a girl -- Alina Afanaskina -- killed two classmates with a shotgun in Bryansk this month.
"I was very inspired by Alina ... very much," said one message posted on Dec. 10. The message added, "She certainly did not kill enough. I will try to fix that."
Police are still investigating those messages to determine if, in fact, they were posted by Thursday's Prague university shooter.
Authorities said they believe the attack was not related to international terrorism.
The gunman first killed his father at the family home in the town of Kladno, according to Radek Jiroudek, an Interpol Prague police officer in an interview with the New York Times. He then killed himself after shooting the victims at the university.
Czech police said Thursday morning that officers began responding to a shooting at a school in Namesti Jan Palach, adding the shooter had been "eliminated."
"The entire building is currently being evacuated and there are several dead and dozens of injured," police said.
The Prague Rescue Service said in addition to the 14 deaths that nine people were "seriously injured," as many as six were "moderately injured" and 10 more were "slightly injured."
The investigation, including identifying all the victims, is still underway. Interior Minister Vit Rakusan told Czech public television the person who fired the shots was dead and that there were no other suspects at the scene.
He said, "It's an unimaginable tragedy, it's something horrible, it affects young people, it's just before the Christmas holidays. It is something that the Czech Republic has not experienced."
The shooting happened at Charles University's Faculty of Arts, near the Czech capital's Old Town.
Police said some students locked themselves in rooms before the shooter arrived.
Jakob Weizman, who is studying at the university, posted on X that he was barricaded in a classroom.
"Currently stuck inside my classroom in Prague. Shooter is dead, but we are waiting to be evacuated. Praying to make it out alive. Locked the door before the shooter tried to open it."
If you or someone you know is suicidal, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988.
