Prague shooting: Day of mourning declared after 14 killed – as suspect linked to separate murder
The Czech Republic will hold a day of mourning after 14 people were killed and 25 injured in a mass shooting – as police investigate the suspect’s links to another murder.
Police say the gunman opened fire on Thursday in the philosophy department at Charles University in Prague – where he was a student – in the worst shooting the country has ever seen.
Based on a search of his home, the gunman – named in Czech media as 24-year-old “David K” – is also suspected in the killing of another man and his two-month-old daughter last Friday.
Prague’s police chief, Martin Vondrasek, added the force believes the suspect killed his father earlier on Thursday in his hometown of Hostoun and that he had also been planning to kill himself.
President Petr Pavel expressed his “great sadness” in a statement, along with “helpless anger at the unnecessary loss of so many young lives”.
“I would like to express my sincere condolences to all relatives of the victims, to all who were at this tragic incident,” he added.
A police car drives past ambulances parked near the area of the shooting
The Czech government declared Saturday will be a national day of mourning to honour the victims, Prime Minister Petr Fiala said.
Previously, the nation’s worst mass shooting was in 2015, when a gunman opened fire in the town of Uhersky Brod, killing eight before ending his own life.
Police had “unconfirmed information from an account on a social network that he was supposedly inspired by one terrorist attack in Russia in the autumn of this year”, Mr Vondrasek said.
“It was a pre-mediated horrific act that started in the Kladno region and unfortunately ended here,” he said, adding the gunman was a legal holder of several firearms.
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People hiding on ledge during shooting
Police said he was a high-achieving student with no prior criminal record and that he acted alone.
Officers asked not to reveal the man’s identity, but his name reported by some Czech media matched a police search report.
Interior Minister Vit Rakusan said the shooting had no connection to international terrorism.
‘Don’t go anywhere’
The incident took place in the area of Jan Palach Square, in the city’s Old Town district, which is a few minutes’ walk from the Old Town Square, a major tourist attraction where thousands have visited a Christmas market.
A map showing Jan Palach Square, where the shooting took place
Staff at the faculty of arts of Charles University were sent an emergency email during the shooting in which staff were urged to “stay put”, according to Reuters.
“Don’t go anywhere, if you’re in the offices, lock them and place furniture in front of the door, turn off the lights,” the email said.
Read more:
Prague mass shooting: What do we know so far?
Footage shows people cowering on ledge of university building as police hunt gunman
Klara, a student at the university, told local media that she was among those who police evacuated from the building.
“It was terribly scary,” she told iDnes.cz.
“There were a lot of policemen everywhere, who were shouting at us with submachine guns, telling us to run outside.”
Brits caught up
Tom Leese and his wife Rachael
Meanwhile, a British couple who were visiting Prague as part of their honeymoon, said they were ordered to stay down by police during the shooting.
Tom Leese, 34, a video producer and his wife Rachael, 31, an account director, from Surrey, said they were having a drink in the Slivovitz Museum, close to where the shooting took place, when a policeman burst in.
“He started shouting loudly in what I assume was Czech,” Mr Leese said.
“I asked for it in English, and he said there was an active shooter and to stay inside and stay down.
“The staff were very calm, turned all the lights off very quickly and urged us to stay calm.”
Israel will call up 60,000 reservists as it prepares to launch an expanded military operation in Gaza City.
The military said the country’s defence minister Israel Katz has approved plans to begin a new phase of operations in some of the most densely populated areas of the Gaza Strip.
Israeli forces will operate in areas of Gaza City where they have not yet operated and where it believes Hamas is still active, a military official said.
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Israel must have ‘security control’ to end Gaza war, Netanyahu says
The city is the main military and governing stronghold of Hamas and Israeli troops will target the group’s vast underground network, the official added.
Although Israel has targeted and killed much of Hamas’ senior leadership, parts of the group are actively regrouping and carrying out attacks, including launching rockets towards Israel, the official said.
It remains unclear when the operation will begin, but it could be a matter of days.
Palestinians at the site of a house struck by Israel in Gaza City. Pic: Reuters
The official said 60,000 reservists will be called up in the coming month and the service of an additional 20,000 reservists currently serving will be lengthened.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said the objectives of the war are to secure the release of the remaining hostages and destroy Hamas.
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Gaza hospitals ‘overwhelmed with malnutrition cases’
International criticism of Israel increased after the planned offensive was announced earlier this month amid fears of another mass displacement of Palestinians.
The families of the hostages and former army and intelligence chiefs oppose an expanded operation in Gaza City, with most of the families of hostages wanting an immediate ceasefire.
They worry an expanded assault could threaten prospects of bringing the 50 remaining hostages home. Israel believes 20 of those are still alive.
Read more:
Tents abandoned as Palestinians flee Israeli advance
Gaza ceasefire proposal agreed by Hamas
Parachutes drop aid supplies in Gaza. Pic: AP
Palestinians rush to collect airdropped humanitarian aid packages. Pic: AP
The war began when Hamas-led militants attacked Israel on 7 October 2023, killing some 1,200 people and abducting 251.
Many of the hostages have been released in ceasefires and other deals, with Hamas saying it will only free the remainder in exchange of a lasting ceasefire and Israeli withdrawal.
More than 62,000 people have been killed during Israel’s 22-month counteroffensive, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry, which does not differentiate between civilians and combatants in its count, but says women and children make up around half of those killed.
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Earlier this week, the ministry said 154 adults had died of malnutrition-related causes since the ministry began counting such deaths in late June, and 112 children have died of malnutrition-related causes since the war began.
Thousands have fled parts of Gaza City in recent days amid airstrikes and advancing Israeli troops, new satellite imagery shows.
Israel’s advance comes as it prepares to mount a full-scale invasion of the city, where the UN says around one million Palestinians are sheltering.
Satellite imagery shows that entire tent camps in southeast Gaza City were emptied between 9 and 17 August as families fled the renewed attacks.
The video below shows the moment of an airstrike in southeastern Gaza City on 13 August. Sky News geolocated the footage to a building less than 200 metres from a major tent camp.
Another video, taken on 15 August, shows a strike on a building right next to the camp.
By the following day, almost all the camp’s residents had fled, along with people sheltering at 30 other locations in the area.
Fresh vehicle tracks in the area indicate extensive troop movements on the ground.
The satellite image below, taken on 17 August, shows at least nine military vehicles in the streets surrounding one former tent camp.
Sky News counted 58 military vehicles in the area on 17 August, including 17 bulldozers.
The image below shows four IDF vehicles, including a bulldozer, parked next to the remains of one tent camp. Several nearby buildings had been levelled in the days beforehand.
Between 9 and 17 August, at least 132 buildings were destroyed in less than one square kilometre of the city.
It’s unclear how much of the destruction was carried out by IDF bulldozers and how much was a result of airstrikes.
On Monday, eyewitnesses reported that Israeli tanks had made further advances into eastern Gaza City.
The advances came as Hamas said it had approved a ceasefire deal presented by mediators Egypt and Qatar. Israel has yet to respond to the proposal.
Earlier this month, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu instructed his country’s military to prepare for a full-scale invasion and occupation of the city in order to “free Gaza from Hamas”.
The UN has said that the invasion risks “catastrophic consequences” for the estimated one million Palestinians sheltering in the city, while UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said the plan would “only bring more bloodshed”.
The Data and Forensics team is a multi-skilled unit dedicated to providing transparent journalism from Sky News. We gather, analyse and visualise data to tell data-driven stories. We combine traditional reporting skills with advanced analysis of satellite images, social media and other open source information. Through multimedia storytelling we aim to better explain the world while also showing how our journalism is done.
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