The gunman who unleashed terror in Prague is now suspected of killing a man and his young daughter in a forest near the Czech capital last week, police have revealed.
David Kozak, 24, killed 14 people and injured 25 in a rampage in which he attacked students at his university in central Prague, police said, adding that he was shot after the horrific attack.
Kozak murdered his father in the town of Hostoun before making the two-hour journey to the Czech capital, where he began shooting people indiscriminately from the balcony of Charles University's art faculty.
In the lead-up to his rampage, he is said to have kept a diary in Russian on the messaging app Telegram, in which he wrote in a chilling post: “I want to stage a school shooting and possibly commit suicide.”
It has now been announced that police are investigating whether Kozak may have arbitrarily killed a father and daughter in a shooting in Klanovicky les near Prague. Hundreds of police combed the forest area after the perpetrator disappeared, and authorities are currently investigating whether there could be a connection between the two assassinations.
24-year-old student David Kozak was named as the murderer by local police
Hundreds of police officers combed the forest area in Klanovicky les after the perpetrator of a shooting there disappeared
Images circulating online and in Czech media are said to show the shooter on the roof of the university building
A frightening image shared in local media is said to show the man dressed in black aiming a rifle at people below while standing on the roof of a faculty building. Witnesses said the gunman shot his victims one by one
Other extraordinary images show terrified students cowering on a ledge high in a faculty, trying to hide from the gunman after others were ordered to barricade themselves in classrooms
Dramatic video shows terrified crowds of tourists and locals sprinting across the famous Charles Bridge – one of Europe's most popular tourist attractions – after hearing the sickening sound of gunfire in the city
The shooting began at 3 p.m. in the Faculty of Arts building at Charles University and police said the gunman was “eliminated” at 4 p.m. after elite police officers were seen storming the building
Desperate citizens are wrapped in foil as night falls after the horrific attack
A police officer secures the area after the shooting at a Charles University building in Prague on Thursday
Rescue workers wait at a barrier around Charles University, the site of the shooting on December 21, 2023
Thursday's massacre is the worst mass shooting ever in the Czech Republic, and the shooter is believed to have been inspired by a school shooting carried out by a 14-year-old student in Russia earlier this month.
“I want to shoot at school and possibly commit suicide, Alina Afanaskina helped me too much,” he reportedly wrote on December 10 about the Bryansk school shooter who killed two students before taking his own life.
The chilling post in her “diary” about what the author called “life before the shooting” continued: “I always wanted to kill, I thought I would become a madman in the future.”
Less than a week after the disturbing posts appeared online, a father and his little girl were shot dead in Klanovice, a forested area outside Prague.
“We are working very seriously to ensure that the attacker from the Faculty of Arts is also responsible for the two victims at the end of last week in Klanovicky les,” said police spokesman Martin Vondráček.
“As far as Klanovicky les is concerned, it is not known that the victims had any connection to the perpetrator.” “I am convinced that the victims were chosen completely at random by a person with no criminal record,” he added.
The suspect has been at large since the shooting on Friday, December 15th. Police launched a large-scale manhunt but made limited progress.
They appealed to the public last week, saying: “We are basically looking for everything related to the case to move it forward.” “Logically, the murder weapon is the main thing.”
In a new development, the case is now being linked to Thursday's bloody attack on the historic heart of Prague.
Horrific scenes occurred on the historic Charles University campus on Thursday. Pictures showed the gunman, dressed in black, aiming a rifle at people below while standing on the roof of the university's prestigious Faculty of Arts building.
Terrified students and tourists were seen fleeing while others cowered under a window ledge of the tall building as shots rang out in one of Europe's most popular tourist attractions. One person reportedly died after falling from a building while running for cover.
There are fears that tourists could be among those killed or the 25 injured in today's shooting. Police are working to identify the victims and say they will update embassies if foreigners are affected by the atrocity.
Elite police were seen storming the philosophy department building at Charles University, where the gunman was a student. Police said the gunman was “eliminated” at 4 p.m. – an hour after the deadly carnage began.
Police said the gunman's body was found in the area and suspected he had taken his own life as police approached him – although police said they shot him.
“Due to the suspect’s devastating injury, we cannot confirm his identity,” Vondráček said. “According to the information I have, it should have been a suicide, but the police also used a service weapon.”
He added that the death toll could have been much higher: “There was a large amount of ammunition and if the police had not entered the building in time, the perpetrator would not have been lying dead on the roof, but there would have been one. “Much more victims.”
A university faculty member, Zora Hesova, said people were still locked in the building's classrooms when armed police arrived at the scene
In a dramatic video, terrified crowds of tourists and locals were seen sprinting across the famous Charles Bridge – one of Europe's most popular tourist attractions – after hearing the sickening sound of gunfire in the city.
The gunman shot his victims one after the other from the roof of the university building – two hours after he allegedly murdered his father in the town of Hostoun.
In separate footage, people could be seen running with their hands raised from the university's prestigious Faculty of Arts building in the capital as armed police stormed in.
The shooting began at 3 p.m. and police said the gunman was “eliminated” at 4 p.m. after elite police officers were seen storming the building. The shooting left at least 14 people dead and more than 20 injured – 11 of them seriously, Prague emergency services said.
Other extraordinary images show terrified students cowering on a ledge high on a balcony, trying to hide from the gunman after others were ordered to barricade themselves in classrooms.
Armed police officers are seen on the balcony of the university in central Prague on Thursday
People are seen fleeing a building in Prague
British tourist Joe Hyland, vacationing abroad for the first time with his group of friends, said they were worried there may have been multiple attackers and rushed to text their loved ones in case the worst happened .
“When we got to the subway and we don't know how many attackers there are and we don't know what the attackers are, so is the subway the best or the worst place to go?” So we decided to call our parents to tell them we love them and call our friends,” he told the BBC.
From Prague, his friend added: “It's our first holiday as boys.” “When something like this happens, you call your loved ones because in the confusion you don't know if you can talk to them.”
A British father and daughter also witnessed the chaos. The unnamed man told The Sun: “My daughter said, 'Dad, look up there, there's a guy on the roof.' And suddenly it went through my head, it sounded like a load of fireworks.
“I would have said that around 30 people were shot.” On the right side of the square lay a dead man. He was shot in the chest.'
A university faculty member, Zora Hesova, said people were locked in classrooms in the building when armed police arrived at the scene.
Police later said they killed the gunman after storming the building and evacuated everyone trapped inside.
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“The shooter has been eliminated!!!” said the police on X, formerly Twitter. “The building is currently being evacuated and there are several dead and dozens injured at the scene of the accident.”
Extraordinary images show the black-clad gunman standing on the roof of the faculty building and aiming his rifle at the people below using a top-mounted scope.
Petr Nedoma, the director of the Rudolfinum – a concert hall in the square opposite the Faculty of Arts – told Czech broadcaster CT24: “At the top of the corridor of the Faculty of Arts I saw a man standing with a gun in his hand and…” with certain delays shoot at the Mánes Bridge.
“I watched what was happening in the Rudolfinum for a long time. “I stayed in the building and stayed by the windows to have as much protection as possible.”
Nedoma added: “Then he raised his hands and threw the gun on the street, it remained next to the philosophy faculty.” Then a lot of people appeared upstairs, I don't know if it was the police.
“I left the window and watched the police evacuating people from the Faculty of Arts, taking them in different directions with their hands behind their heads, a large number of cars, people walking around.”
Frightened teachers and students at Charles University's Faculty of Arts were ordered to lock themselves in classrooms before evacuating.
Klara, a student, told the news site iDnes.cz that she was among those evacuated from the building by police.
“It was terribly scary, there were lots of police everywhere, shouting at us with machine guns and telling us to run outside,” she said.
An email to staff and students at Charles University's Faculty of Arts said a gunman was in one of its buildings and told staff to “stay there.”
“Do not go anywhere when in the offices, lock them and put furniture in front of the door, turn off the lights,” the email said.
A student, Deda Mrazek, said she was in the university library when the gunman began shooting at his victims.
Deda shared a picture of students hiding in the back of a computer lab and wrote, “I'm fine.” I was in the library at the time of the shooting.
“They sent us to the back of the computer room where there are no windows. “Word has now gotten around that the shooter is dead.”
She said as soon as they heard the shooter had been killed, the frightened students called all of their families to tell them they were safe.
The government said it would hold an emergency Cabinet meeting at 9 p.m. to discuss the shooting.
An armed police officer patrols near the scene of a shooting at Charles University in central Prague on Thursday
Members of the emergency services at the scene of a shooting at Charles University in the center of Prague on Thursday afternoon
On Thursday, paramedics waited near the Faculty of Arts building at Charles University in downtown Prague
Other extraordinary images show terrified students cowering on a ledge high in a faculty, trying to hide from the gunman after others were ordered to barricade themselves in classrooms
Other extraordinary images show terrified students cowering on a ledge high in a faculty, trying to hide from the gunman after others were ordered to barricade themselves in classrooms
A student, Deda Mrazek, said she was in the university library when the gunman began shooting at his victims. Deda shared a picture of students hiding in the back of a computer lab and wrote, “I'm fine.” I was in the library at the time of the shooting.
Armed police officers are seen on the balcony of the university in central Prague on Thursday
Police are taking security measures as several people were killed and injured in a shooting near a university in Prague
An armed police officer patrols near the scene of a shooting at Charles University in central Prague
An ambulance drives to the Faculty of Arts building at Charles University in downtown Prague, Czech Republic, on Thursday afternoon
Police in the Czech Republic's capital urged residents to take shelter and avoid the area “due to an ongoing shooting” near Charles University in the city center
Police officers stand on the balcony of the Faculty of Arts at Charles University in downtown Prague, Czech Republic, after storming the building and killing the gunman
Police officers secure an area after a shooting in downtown Prague, Czech Republic, on Thursday
After the shooting, an ambulance drove to the Faculty of Arts building at Charles University in downtown Prague on Thursday
Police have cordoned off the square and the area next to the university building, which is in a busy part of the city that has a popular street that leads tourists to Old Town Square
“According to preliminary information, the shooter himself should be dead, there are dead and wounded on site, I will not speculate about the final number now,” Interior Minister Vit Rakusan said on Czech television.
Rakusan added: “No additional shooter has been confirmed” and urged people to follow police instructions.
Police in the Czech Republic's capital urged residents to hide inside and avoid the area because of the shooting.
President Petr Pavel tweeted: “I am shocked by the events at the Faculty of Arts at Charles University.”
“I would like to express my deep regret and sincere condolences to the families and loved ones of the shooting victims.”
“I would like to thank citizens for respecting the instructions of the security forces and providing maximum cooperation.”
The British Embassy in Prague has urged people in the city, a hotspot for tourists, to avoid the area around Charles University and the Faculty of Arts.
Prime Minister Petr Fiala has canceled his trip to the east of the country and is on his way to Prague, he said on X.
Gun crime is relatively rare in the Czech Republic. In December 2019, a 42-year-old gunman killed six people in a hospital waiting room in the eastern Czech city of Ostrava before fleeing and fatally shooting himself, police said.
In 2015, a man fatally shot eight people at a restaurant in Uhersky Brod and then killed himself.