At least 15 dead, dozens injured in Prague university shooting

At least 15 persons were killed and some 24 injured in a shooting incident at Charles University in Prague, the capital city of the Czech Republic.

Czech police said the incident happened on Thursday afternoon at the university’s faculty of arts and identified the shooter as a student.

The police said the shooter was found dead but gave no further details about the victims or the circumstances of the event.

The student was from a village near Prague, and his father was found dead earlier, police added.

In a post on X, Czech President Petr Pavel said he was shocked by the event and thanked citizens for cooperating with security forces.

“I would like to express my deep regret and sincere condolences to the families and relatives of the victims that the shooting claimed,” he added.

The gun attack is said to be the worst fatal shooting since Czech independence 30 years ago.

The most recent gun attack was in December 2019 at a hospital in Ostrava, when a man opened fire in a trauma clinic waiting room and killed four men and two women, before turning the gun on himself.

In February 2015, a local man opened fire in a restaurant in the eastern town of Uhersky Brod. Eight people died in the attack.

Jan Palach Square, where Charles University is located, has been cordoned off by the police as part of the investigations.