There was a tragic event at Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic where fourteen people were killed and more than twenty were injured in a shooting rampage. The gunman, a 24-year-old student at the university, also took his own life. Authorities believe the gunman first killed his father at their family home before carrying out the shooting spree. Some of the injured were in critical condition. The gunman was identified only as David K., and he was reportedly inspired by other mass shootings in Russia but his actions are not believed to be connected to international or domestic terrorism.

An associate professor at the university described hearing the commotion before the shooting began, and he and his students were forced to evacuate as the violence unfolded. There are messages posted on Telegram under the name David Kozak that may be connected to the gunman, where he expresses violent thoughts and his desire to commit a school shooting. It was revealed that the gunman had legal possession of several guns. The police had been prepared for an imminent attack at the university and were able to evacuate one of the buildings before the shooting began in another.

The tragic event has prompted an emergency government meeting and a tightening of security at the university. The shooting was the worst mass shooting in Europe since the back-to-back massacres in Serbia in May that killed seventeen and a rare occurrence in the Czech Republic. Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, offered her condolences to the families of the victims and the Czech people as a whole. This was a devastating event that has deeply affected the Czech Republic, which remains on edge after the recent shocking deaths of a father and daughter.

The tragic event at Charles University in Prague happened at Jan Palach Square, which is named after a former student who died after setting himself on fire in 1969 to protest the Soviet Union’s invasion of Czechoslovakia. This tragedy is a reminder of the important role that Charles University has played in history, as one of the world’s oldest universities.