Prague is searching for a motive for the worst mass shooting since World War II
Investigators worked Friday to establish a motive for a deadly weapons rampage in central Prague a day earlier, the worst mass shooting in the Czech Republic since the immediate aftermath of World War II.
The gunfire that erupted at Charles University on Thursday turned the historic center of one of Europe’s most serene cities into a scene of carnage, with the festive Christmas mood marred by shouts and the blare of sirens. Tourists ran for safety, while some students barricaded themselves in classrooms. Others climbed out of windows and hid on the edge of a building.
The gunman killed 13 people and injured 25 others, according to a revised official death toll released Friday. The gunman, a 24-year-old student, also died and likely shot himself, authorities said at a news conference Friday.
The Czech Republic canceled football and hockey matches – usually regular features of the pre-Christmas calendar – and declared Saturday a day of national mourning.
The university’s arts faculty, the building where the shooting took place, remained closed Friday morning, but traffic had resumed around nearby Jan Palach Square. An overnight thunderstorm, followed by morning rain, added to the somber atmosphere in the capital.
After an emergency government meeting late Thursday, Czech President Petr Pavel said he was gripped by “helpless anger at the completely unnecessary loss of life.” He called for national unity and urged vigilance against the spread of disinformation, long a serious problem in the central European country.
Authorities identified the shooter as David K. and ruled out any link to international or domestic terrorism. They told a news conference on Thursday that he appeared to have acted alone. Police said they were investigating whether the gunman was linked to a series of expletive-laden messages vowing mass murder posted in Russian on the messaging platform Telegram under the name David Kozak.
“I hate the world and want to leave as much pain as possible,” said a message posted three days before Thursday’s massacre. “I want to do a school shooting and possibly commit suicide.”
The messages were all written in Russian, apparently by a native speaker well versed in vulgar jargon. If the shooter and the writer of the Telegram were the same person, it was not clear how a Czech citizen who had grown up in a small village in central Bohemia could master the language so well.
The Czech Republic, unlike most European countries, takes a relatively tolerant approach to gun ownership. Licensing rules are strict, but the right to protect oneself and others with weapons is enshrined in a Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms, the closest European equivalent to the Second Amendment in the United States.
While there were some calls on social media to tighten gun laws in response to Thursday’s rampage, these were quickly dismissed as an attempt to introduce politics into the nation’s grief and labeled as disrespectful to the dead.
That was in stark contrast to Serbia, which has strict rules but has been roiled by public debate over whether gun ownership should be further restricted since back-to-back mass shootings in May.