International Courant
On December 23, flags fly at half-mast as folks observe a minute’s silence for the victims of the assault on Charles College in Prague.
The Czech Republic has declared a day of mourning after a 24-year-old scholar shot useless his father earlier than killing 14 folks and wounding 25 others at his college in Prague within the nation’s worst ever mass capturing.
After a particular cupboard assembly, President Petr Pavel stated December 23 could be a day of mourning, with flags on official buildings flying at half-mast and folks requested to look at a minute’s silence at noon.
“I want to specific my deep disappointment and helpless anger on the pointless lack of so many younger lives,” Pavel stated.
“I want to specific my honest condolences to all of the family of the victims, to all those that had been current at this tragic incident, essentially the most tragic within the historical past of the Czech Republic.”
The capturing came about Thursday afternoon at Charles College’s College of Arts, throughout the river from Prague Fort and close to different historic websites within the picturesque metropolis, together with the 14th-century Charles Bridge.
Media footage confirmed college students evacuating the constructing with their fingers within the air, whereas others sat on a ledge close to the roof and tried to cover from the attacker, whereas college students barricaded lecture rooms with desks and chairs.
“I can affirm that there have been 14 victims of this horrible crime and that 25 have been injured, 10 of them critically,” police chief Martin Vondrasek informed reporters after the capturing.
The capturing focused the historic Charles College in central Prague (Petr David Josek/AP Picture)
All victims had been killed contained in the constructing, he added. Based on media reviews, no less than a few of them had been fellow college students of the shooter.
The Dutch Overseas Ministry stated one of many injured was of Dutch nationality.
Individuals lit candles outdoors the college, which was based in 1348 and is without doubt one of the oldest in Central Europe.
“We mourn the lack of lifetime of members of our college neighborhood, lengthen our deepest condolences to all of the bereaved households, and our ideas are with all these affected by the tragedy,” Charles College stated in an announcement.
Lives wasted
Vondrasek stated the gunman, beforehand unknown to police, had a lot of authorized weapons and that fast police motion following a tip earlier within the day had prevented an excellent worse bloodbath.
Police evacuated a College of Arts constructing the place the gunman was scheduled to attend a lecture, however had been then known as to the bigger foremost school constructing, arriving inside minutes of reviews of the capturing, Vondrasek stated.
Police had “unconfirmed info from a social community account that he was believed to have been impressed by a terrorist assault in Russia within the fall of this yr,” Vondrasek informed reporters, describing the assault as a “pre-mediated heinous act.” .
Authorities didn’t identify the gunman however stated he was a high-achieving scholar with no earlier prison report. His dying was probably a suicide, however authorities had been additionally investigating whether or not he could have been killed by responding police.
Prime Minister Petr Fiala stated the “lone gunman … has wasted many lives, particularly younger folks.”
“There is no such thing as a justification for this heinous act,” he added.
US President Joe Biden condemned the “mindless” assault and the White Home stated the US was prepared to offer help.
French President Emmanuel Macron expressed “solidarity” with the Czech folks, as did different European leaders together with EU chief Ursula von der Leyen and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Police stated all these killed died contained in the constructing and that no less than a few of them had been fellow college students of the shooter (Petr David Josek/AP Picture)
In a while Thursday, Vondrasek stated that primarily based on a search, the gunman was additionally suspected of killing one other man and his two-month-old daughter in Prague on December 15.
Gun crime is comparatively uncommon within the Czech Republic.
In December 2019, a 42-year-old gunman killed six folks within the ready room of a hospital within the jap Czech metropolis of Ostrava earlier than fleeing and fatally capturing himself, police stated.
In 2015, a person shot and killed eight folks after which dedicated suicide in a restaurant in Uhersky Brod.
Day of mourning declared after 14 deaths in mass capturing in Prague | Information about gun violence
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