2023 Prague shooting

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2023 Prague shooting
Part of mass shootings in Europe
File:PulmaratonPalachovo.jpg
Faculty of Arts, Charles University and Mánes Bridge, the sites of the shooting
Lua error in Module:Location_map at line 501: Unable to find the specified location map definition. Neither "Module:Location map/data/Czech Republic Prague city centre" nor "Template:Location map Czech Republic Prague city centre" exists.
Location Faculty of Arts, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic
Coordinates Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Date 21 December 2023
14:59 – 15:20 (CET, UTC+1)
Attack type
 School shooting, mass shooting, mass murder, spree shooting, murder–suicide
Weapon ZEV Technologies AR-10 .308 Winchester[1]
Deaths 16 (15 at the university, including the perpetrator; and the perpetrator's father at his home)[lower-alpha 1][3]
Injured 25
Perpetrator David Kozák[4][5]
2023 Prague shooting is located in Prague
Location of the murder sites in and around Prague. Hostouň is located just off the edge of this map.

On 21 December 2023, at the main Faculty of Arts building of Charles University, located at Jan Palach Square in central Prague, Czech Republic, 15 people were killed in a mass shooting by a postgraduate history student at the school.[6][7][8][9] Another 25 were injured, three of them foreigners.[10][11] The 24-year-old perpetrator killed himself.[12][13] Before the attack, his father was found dead at his home in Hostouň.

The perpetrator had been considered one of several suspects in a double murder case that took place six days earlier, but the lead investigator stated that the police did not manage to act in time to prevent the attack.[14]

The incident is the deadliest mass murder since the foundation of the Czech Republic in 1993, surpassing the 2020 Bohumín arson attack,[15] and is one of the deadliest mass shootings in Europe since the 2015 Bataclan theatre massacre in Paris.[16][17]

Events

Klánovice Forest nature reserve murders

On 15 December 2023, a 32-year-old father and his two-month-old daughter in a stroller were shot dead in Klánovice Forest (cs) on the eastern outskirts of Prague.[18] The police conducted a detailed search of the entire forest with hundreds of officers, while a special task force was set up in order to find the perpetrator. On 20 December, police said that they had no leads in the case but were continuing to search for the perpetrator.[19][20] The firearms website zbrojnice.com noted a similarity of the case with the 2005 "Forest Killer" murders, in which a former police officer killed three random victims in forests in preparation for a planned mass murder in the Prague Metro, which was prevented by his early arrest; the article ended with an appeal to readers to remain vigilant and carry their concealed firearms.[21][22]

Five hours after the attack at the university, the police released information that they had found evidence in David Kozák's house linking him to the Klánovice Forest murders.[23] At a press conference on 22 December, the chief detective of Prague's 1st General Crime Unit stated that Kozák had been one of about 4,000 suspects in the Klánovice Forest case.[2] However, because he lived in the Central Bohemian Region, they were a few days short of being able to prevent the shootings. Central Bohemia is a separate region from the city of Prague, and each region in the country has a separate police directorate.[14] Later that day, the police confirmed that a firearm found at Kozák's house had been ballistically matched with the bullets used in the Klánovice Forest murders.[23] On 27 December 2023, Deník N (cs) reported that police investigators had found a letter in Kozák's home in which he confessed to the murders in Klánovice Forest.[24]

Hostouň familicide, police manhunt

On 21 December 2023 at 12:20 CET, the Central Bohemian Police were alerted by Kozák's mother, who said she had received a message from a friend that her son was planning to take his own life and that he was en route from his hometown of Hostouň to Prague.[3] At 12:45, the police found the body of Kozák's father in his home.[25] A thorough search of the house was hindered by improvised explosive devices, which failed to explode.[26] The police discovered that Kozák was a student of the Faculty of Arts at Charles University. A search warrant was issued and published immediately afterwards; the warrant indicated that Kozák was armed and dangerous.[25] Police also commenced a security operation at Václav Havel Airport Prague,[27] where Kozák's father worked in the airport security department.[28]

Prague police officers entered the main building of the Faculty of Arts on Jan Palach Square sometime after 13:00 CET, where they learned that Kozák was supposed to attend a lecture at 14:00 in a different building on Celetná street. As the Central Bohemian Police Directorate had issued the search warrant for an armed person likely to take his own life, the officers left the main building at 13:49 without taking any action there.[29] Multiple police units were sent to evacuate the building of the Faculty of Arts on Celetná street, where they believed Kozák would be present in a lecture room; the evacuation was finished at 14:22. Kozák was not found in the building or in its vicinity.[25]

Charles University shooting

File:Faculté arts Université Charles Prague 1.jpg
The Faculty of Arts building at Charles University

At 14:59 CET, as the manhunt continued, the police received their first calls about a shooting taking place in the main Faculty of Arts building on Jan Palach Square, a twelve-minute walk from the evacuated building on Celetná.[25] The perpetrator opened fire inside the building's fifth floor corridors and classrooms, while staff and students barricaded themselves in rooms using furniture. Several of those inside fled the building by jumping onto a rooftop terrace from the exterior ledges.[30]

File:Closed Smetanovo nabrezi after Prague 2023 shooting.jpg
Police gradually shut down a large part of Prague's city centre during the shooting.

The first police units reached the building at 15:05 CET. After the arrival of the police, no gunshots were heard from within the building.[31] Based on information given by students, the police searched for the perpetrator on the upper floors, while other officers started evacuating students from the lower floors to the Rudolfinum across the street.[32] Authorities reported seeing "piles of ammunition" inside the building's corridors, adding that Kozák had brought multiple weapons into the university.[33] The city emergency services also deployed a large number of ambulance units to the scene.[34]

Police officers were searching for the perpetrator on the upper floors when they were alerted at 15:11 that he was shooting at people from the rooftop.[35] The gunfire also caused panic outside, with crowds fleeing Charles Bridge.[30] Police lost some time searching for an entrance towards the rooftop, as it was not marked and the area was difficult to navigate.[14] Meanwhile, the perpetrator was engaged by officers shooting at him from the street level. At 15:20, Kozák took his own life on the roof of the building.[14] Police later searched Jan Palach Square and a balcony for explosives.[36] Over 200 police officers took part in the engagement in the building and its vicinity.[31]

A video by reporter Jiří Forman showed Kozák on the university's rooftop with a rifle. Forman, who had taken cover, shouted at Kozák to shoot in his direction in a successful attempt to draw his fire away from students evacuating the building.[1]

Victims

File:It's a Wonderful Life - Prague IMG 0077.png
The Faculty of Arts building and its surroundings remained closed the day after the mass shooting.

Fourteen people were killed, and 25 were injured.[11] The perpetrator had earlier killed his father at their home.[37] Thirteen of the victims in the university died in the building, while another died later in hospital, although Czech media reported that one of the fatalities fell off the building while trying to escape and several others were injured in similar circumstances.[3]

Two of the victims were staff members, including Lenka Hlávková, head of the Institute of Musicology of Charles University,[33][38] and Jan Dlask (cs), a lecturer at the university's Department of Germanic Studies.[39] Among the remaining fatalities were students,[40] including one who also worked as a proofreader for the Lidové noviny newspaper, a shot put athlete who had won nine medals in national and international competitions, and a member of the volunteer fire brigade of the village of Velichovky.[39] Ten of the injured were in serious condition.[34] Three foreign nationals were reported to be among the injured, namely one Dutch national and two Emiratis.[10] Three people were wounded in the streets when the perpetrator opened fire from the rooftop. The perpetrator also hit a civilian car and police cars.[14][41]

Perpetrator

A police officer with Interpol Prague identified the perpetrator as David Kozák,[42][43] a 24-year-old post-graduate[2] world history student[44] from Hostouň, 21 kilometers (13 mi) outside Prague,[45][46] who had graduated with a bachelor's degree in History and European Studies from the Faculty of Arts.[47] Police said that the perpetrator had no prior criminal record.[30]

Czech Police Chief Martin Vondrášek (cs) said that the perpetrator had a gun permit and owned eight weapons.[45] As a European Union member state, the Czech Republic adheres to the European Firearms Directive[48] and legal accessability of firearms is comparable to other EU countries.[49] In 2021, a constitutional amendment to the country's Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms gave citizens a right to defend themselves or others with a gun, while stating that that right cannot be limited by a separate law. To legally possess a firearm in the Czech Republic, a person must first obtain a firearms license, which requires a minimum age of 21 years, a medical examination, a weapon proficiency exam, and a clean criminal record.[50] According to official police statistics, there were 313,000 gun license holders in the Czech Republic, who collectively owned about one million registered firearms in 2022.[51] Gun attacks in the country are rare.[45]

A Telegram account attributed to him contained writings in fluent Russian[52] that praised two school shooters from Russia, namely Ilnaz Galyaviev and Alina Afanaskina, and described suicidal tendencies.[30][53] This information was shared by Czech media but was not officially confirmed by police.[30] A Russia correspondent at Czech Radio suggested the Telegram account was likely fake, as one post was edited after the shooter's death and the posts were written "in the language of a young native Russian speaker".[54]

Interior Minister Vít Rakušan said that there were no other perpetrators, but urged everyone to cooperate with police, while adding investigators did not suspect an ideological or extremist link.[55]

Aftermath

File:It's a Wonderful Life - Prague IMG 9939.png
Place of remembrance next to Karolinum, the seat of the Charles University, the day after the attack

The evening after the attack, passersby lit candles and left flowers at the site of the attack.[30] The Charles University Foundation and the community of Klánovice announced humanitarian online fundraisers to help those affected by the tragedy.[56][57] The 2023–24 UEFA Women's Champions League football match between Slavia Prague and St. Pölten, set to be played at home in Prague on the day of the shooting, was postponed.[58] Several other sports and cultural events were also called off,[30] while Christmas markets across of the country were either closed or on reduced operations on 23 December.[40] Interior minister Vít Rakušan called on mayors across the country to cancel New Year's fireworks displays in light of the killings. He also called on Czechs to mark the event peacefully out of respect for those traumatised by the shootings.[2]

Following the shooting, police detained four people on suspicion of threatening to stage copycat attacks or expressing approval of the incident, while police presence in selected sites, including schools, was heightened until 1 January 2024.[59]

Authorities responded to several false alarms about potential attacks following the incident, including two bomb-related hoaxes in Prague.[60] In Slovakia, a 64-year-old man in Žilina was arrested by police after calling emergency services and saying that he intended to do "what happened in Prague" on the evening after the attack. He was subsequently charged with spreading general alarm.[61]

Reactions

Domestic

During a vigil at Charles University on 22 December, its rector Milena Králíčková said that "The academic community is shaken, deeply shaken."[62] Prime Minister Petr Fiala cancelled his scheduled events in Olomouc and travelled to Prague shortly after the shooting.[63] President Petr Pavel expressed his "sincere condolences" to the family and friends of the victims via social media, while also cutting short a trip to France.[64][65]

Fiala later announced a day of mourning for 23 December, with flags flying at half-mast and a minute of silence held at noon, along with the ringing of bells for the victims.[30][45] A mass for the victims was also held that day at Saint Vitus Cathedral, which was attended by Pavel, Senate president Miloš Vystrčil, and Chamber of Deputies president Markéta Pekarová Adamová. The service was officiated by Jan Graubner, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Prague, who expressed shock at the incident and expressed the "need to clearly condemn what happened" while also looking into the future. University rector Milena Králíčková also said during the event that "Nobody should be left alone in these tough moments." Religious services for the victims were also held in other parts of the country.[40]

International

Many international leaders expressed condolences, including European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, United States president Joe Biden, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy,[66] Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau,[67] Israeli president Isaac Herzog,[68][69] Slovak president Zuzana Čaputová and prime minister Robert Fico,[70] the Turkish Foreign Ministry,[71] German chancellor Olaf Scholz,[72] Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán,[73] French president Emmanuel Macron,[74] Finnish president Sauli Niinistö,[75] Pope Francis,[76] and Taiwanese president Tsai Ing-wen.[77]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ The perpetrator also killed two others on 15 December 2023.[2]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 14.4 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ https://archiv.hn.cz/c1-67279780-klanovicky-vrah-je-na-svobode-mohl-to-byt-nacvik-masove-vrazdy-varoval-den-pred-strelbou-na-fakulte-specializovany-server
  23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  24. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 25.2 25.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  26. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  27. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  28. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  29. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  30. ↑ 30.0 30.1 30.2 30.3 30.4 30.5 30.6 30.7 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  31. ↑ 31.0 31.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  32. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  33. ↑ 33.0 33.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  34. ↑ 34.0 34.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  35. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  39. ↑ 39.0 39.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  40. ↑ 40.0 40.1 40.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  41. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  45. ↑ 45.0 45.1 45.2 45.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  55. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  56. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  66. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  67. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  68. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  69. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  70. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  71. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  72. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  73. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  74. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  75. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  77. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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