Founded in 1347, Charles University is the oldest and largest university in the Czech Republic, and one of the oldest such institutions in Europe.
A gunman has shot dead 14 people and injured another 25 at a university in Prague, officials say, in the deadliest attack in modern Czech history.
The 24-year-old Czech student shot dead his father, then killed 14 people and wounded 25 others at his Prague university on Thursday before possibly killing himself, police said, marking the country’s worst-ever mass shooting.
Police say the 24-year-old gunman was also “eliminated” following the shooting at Charles University in the historic centre of the capital.
University staff were told to barricade themselves in rooms during the attack.
Prime Minister Petr Fiala said he had cancelled upcoming engagements in light of the “tragic events” on Thursday.
The shooting started at about 15:00 local time (14:00 GMT) at the university’s Faculty of Arts building on Jan Palach Square.
Dramatic footage later emerged on social media showing some people jumping to safety from one of the building’s ledges several storeys up, and gunshots are also heard.
In a separate video, terrified crowds are seen fleeing the area popular with tourists.
At a briefing on Thursday evening, the country’s police chief and the interior minister said the gunman had been a student at the faculty.
They said he was from a village 21km (13 miles) outside Prague. The suspect’s father had been found dead earlier on Thursday. The gunman’s motives were not immediately known.
Preliminary information suggested that no police officers were injured in the attack, the authorities said.
The police said they were also working on the theory that the gunman may have been responsible for the deaths of two people last week in a forest near Prague.
The area around the university remained sealed off late into the night
EPA
The area around the university remained sealed off late into the night
Sergei Medvedev, a professor at the university, told the BBC he had been in one of the university’s auditoriums when the shootings began.
“I was giving a lecture at the moment and at first didn’t quite realise what happened because there were some sounds. The students… heard it better because I was so much concentrated on my talking, on my lecture,” he said.
“Then… we understood that something big is happening. There was nothing online yet, nothing in the Czech press and the [news] networks. Then at some point, the special operation groups went storming in, they searched the room briefly and then went out… they told us to stay inside.
“One hour later, another police squad broke in and then put us on the floor, briefly searched us then evacuated from the building.”
US tourist Hannah Mallicoat told the BBC that she and her family had been on Jan Palach Square during the attack.
“A crowd of people were crossing the street when the first shot hit. I thought it was something like a firecracker or a car backfire until I heard the second shot and people started running,” she said.
“I saw a bullet hit the ground on the other side of the square about 30 ft (9m) away before ducking into a store. The whole area was blocked off and dozens of police cars and ambulances were going towards the university.”
Britain’s Joe Hyland, 18, told the BBC he had heard four gunshots.
“Everyone was sprinting and running for cover. I have a bad knee, am on a crutch. So I hobbled as quickly as possible,” added Mr Hyland, who was on his first holiday with friends. “We got to the metro and went down there because we thought it would be safest.”
Charles University students said they had barricaded themselves in classrooms.
“Currently stuck inside my classroom in Prague,” Jakob Weizman, a student at Charles University, wrote on X (formerly Twitter) as it unfolded.
“Locked the door before the shooter tried to open it.”
An email to staff at the faculty of arts, seen by Reuters news agency, warned staff of the shooting.
It read: “Stay put, don’t go anywhere, if you’re in the offices, lock them and place furniture in front of the door, turn off the lights.”
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said she was “shocked by the senseless violence”.
Founded in 1347, Charles University is the oldest and largest university in the Czech Republic, and one of the oldest such institutions in Europe.
BBC
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