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Prague Charles University mass shooting victims identified
Prague massacre police bodycam footage shows cops racing through building, treating wounded before finding gunman dead on the roof.
Law enforcement has unveiled bodycam footage capturing officers entering a university building as part of their response to a shooting incident in Prague, resulting in the death of 14 people.
The video depicts armed officers entering the building, and individuals from the public evacuating the scene at Charles University in Prague on Thursday.
The alleged perpetrator, identified as 24-year-old David Kozak, carried out the shooting in the philosophy department.
During a press briefing today, Petr Matejcek, director of the police regional headquarters in Prague, disclosed that they received a call from an individual who claimed they intended to “emulate the perpetrator and initiate a shooting.”
Authorities successfully identified and apprehended this individual. A police spokesperson informed reporters that armed officers initially believed the gunman to be on the upper floors of the building upon their arrival on Thursday.
Subsequently, the search focus shifted to the roof. Meanwhile, students at the university had taken measures to barricade themselves in their classrooms.
A perimeter was established around the university building, as mentioned by officers during the press conference. At a certain juncture, the gunman used a long-range weapon to shoot and injure three individuals outside the building, prompting the police to return fire.
As law enforcement closed in on his location, he was armed with a shotgun and took his own life, according to Mr. Matejcek. Officers discovered his body during the search of the building.
The assailant, identified as a student at the university, claimed the lives of a minimum of 14 individuals and left 25 injured.
Charles University disclosed the identities of two victims, Lenka Hlavkova, the director of the Institute of Music Science FF UK, and Lucie Spindlerova, a proofreader at the Lidovky newspaper.
Among the wounded, three were foreign nationals, comprising two from Saudi Arabia and one from the Netherlands, according to authorities.
They clarified that no foreign nationals were among the fatalities.
Prague’s police chief, Martin Vondrasek, stated that the police suspected the assailant had murdered his father earlier on Thursday in his hometown of Hostoun and had intentions of ending his own life as well.
The authorities, following a search of his residence, also consider him a suspect in the killing of another man and his two-month-old daughter last Friday. This incident marks the most severe mass shooting the country has experienced.
