The gunman who unleashed terror in Prague fired shot after shot at his victims from the balcony of a top university building while a hero shouted “Shoot here, you fucker” to distract him, chilling footage shows.
David Kozak, 24, killed 14 people and injured 25 – 10 seriously – during the deadly rampage in which he attacked students and tourists from the balcony of Charles University's philosophy building.
The first victim of the fatal attack has now been identified as Lenka Hlávková, who was director of the Institute of Musicology in the university's philosophy department. The institute released a black and white image of Lenka while also confirming her death in the “cruel” attack.
Meanwhile, a sickening video has emerged showing Kozak, a master's student in history at the university, standing on the balcony and aiming his powerful ZEV-30 rifle at the people below, picking off his victims one by one .
Kozak, dressed all in black, calmly walks across the balcony, aiming at the frightened students fleeing the university and the tourists who had gathered in the popular square below.
On the ground, a heroic man, a journalist, can be heard screaming, “Shoot me, you bastard,” in a desperate and brave attempt to distract the gunman and save the lives of others, the Blesk newspaper reports.
But the 24-year-old ignores his pleas and continues to shoot his victims downstairs in quick succession, while the man frantically tells police via walkie-talkie exactly where Kozak is on the balcony and tells them to “fire a shot.” the shooter.
The gunman pauses again and takes cover under a Ukrainian flag before walking to the edge of the balcony and resting his rifle – which can penetrate body armor – on the railing. He spots fleeing victims and fires two shots in quick succession as the heroic man screams from below.
The sickening footage shows how calm and composed the gunman was as he unleashed terror and shot 14 victims in the mass shooting – the worst in the Czech Republic's modern history.
The gunman pauses again and takes cover under a Ukrainian flag before walking to the edge of the balcony and resting his rifle on the railing
He spots fleeing victims and fires two shots in quick succession as the heroic man screams from below
Now a sickening video has emerged showing Kozak, a university student, standing on the balcony, pointing his rifle at the people below and picking off his victims one by one
Now a sickening video has emerged showing Kozak, a university student, standing on the balcony, pointing his rifle at the people below and picking off his victims one by one
24-year-old student David Kozak was named as the murderer by local police
The gunman began his attack at 3pm yesterday and by 4pm police said he had been “eliminated” after elite police were seen storming the building. Police opened fire on Kozak while he was still trying to shoot other victims, police chief Martin Vondrášek 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.
Czech police said today that 13 of the 14 victims had been identified and the government announced a day of mourning for Saturday. The Interior Ministry said the injured included two citizens of the United Arab Emirates and a Dutchman.
Kozak murdered his father in his hometown of Hostoun before traveling 13 miles to the Czech capital, where he began shooting people indiscriminately from the balcony of Charles University's philosophy building.
The gunman legally owned several weapons – police said he was heavily armed on Thursday and had a lot of ammunition with him – and that his act was “well thought out, a terrible act,” Vondrasek said.
He had a huge arsenal of weapons and ammunition with him, and the country's interior minister said: “If the police had not entered the building in time, the perpetrator would not have ended up dead on the roof, but would have been a whole lot more victims.” .'
In the lead-up to his rampage, Kozak reportedly kept a diary in Russian on the messaging app Telegram, in which he wrote in a chilling post: “I want to commit a school shooting and possibly commit suicide.”
Last night it was announced that police were investigating whether Kozak may have killed a 32-year-old father and his two-month-old daughter in Klanovice, 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.
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.”
Two friends comfort each other during a vigil honoring victims after a shooting at a Charles University building in Prague on Friday
People light candles at a makeshift memorial to the victims in front of Charles University in central Prague on Friday
One frightening image shows Kozak in black, standing on the roof of a faculty building and aiming a rifle at people below
Police in Prague have recovered a weapon believed to have been used in the attack
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
Armed police respond to a shooting in one of Charles University's buildings on Thursday
An armed police officer takes position near the shooting at a Charles University building on Thursday
Police officers walk around the Charles University Faculty of Arts building where a mass shooting took place on Friday
Desperate citizens are wrapped in foil as night falls after the horrific attack
A woman lights a candle in front of the main building of Charles University after a shooting took place in one of the university buildings in Prague on Thursday evening
Just five days after the disturbing posts appeared online, a father and his little girl were shot dead in Klanovice, a forested area outside Prague.
More than 250 police officers were dispatched to search the area and a helicopter with thermal imaging was used to search the wooded area, but the shooter was never found.
At the time, police spokesman Jan Rybanský told iDNES.cz: “The case is being handled by a team of several dozen of the most experienced criminologists, which was also reinforced by colleagues from the Office of Criminal Investigation and Investigations,” the police headquarters.
Horrified friends of the dead man said: “I remember him as an intern in the camp and in the tourist department.” He was friendly and up for a joke.
“After school he focused on himself and started doing a lot of sports. On this occasion he met his future wife.
“This summer he talked about how happy he is in his life. He said he had a beautiful wife, a child and more. What more do you want. He looked happy.
“Who would do something like that?”
As the investigation into the double murder continues, Czech police must now assess how a mass murder could have occurred just a few days later, half an hour's drive away, in Prague – and whether the two attacks were both carried out by Kozak.
“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 without a criminal record,” said police spokesman Martin Vondráček on Thursday evening.
Vondráček revealed at the press conference: “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.”
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.
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
Pictures showed students and teachers barricading themselves in classrooms during the shooting
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.”
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.
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.
“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.
Armed police officers are seen on the balcony of the university in central Prague on Thursday
People are seen fleeing a building in Prague
People wrap themselves while waiting near the Charles University Faculty of Arts building in downtown Prague, Czech Republic
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.
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, which is popular with 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.