Several dead in shooting at university in Prague

Several people were killed and “dozens” of others were injured in a shooting at Charles University in central Prague on Thursday, Czech police said.

The governor of the Prague region, Bohuslav Svoboda, said that the gunman, so far unknown, fell from the roof of the university’s arts faculty building after opening fire on Jan Palach Square, an area of ​​well-groomed lawns bordering the Vltava River that runs through the Czech Republic. capital.

Police said the gunman had been “eliminated” but did not specify how, suggesting he had died. They also said the Faculty of Arts building had been evacuated. The square next to it has been cordoned off. Videos posted on social media showed people running away.

Shootings are extremely rare in the central European country and panic over Thursday’s incident prompted Prime Minister Petr Fiala to cut short a trip to the eastern Czech Republic city of Olomouc and rush back to Prague.

Barbora Petrova contributed reporting.