Czech police: At least 14 killed, several injured in shooting at Prague university

At least 14 people died and more than two dozen others were injured Thursday when a gunman opened fire at Charles University in Prague’s Old Town, according to officials in the Czech Republic.

>> Read more trending news

Earlier, officials with Prague’s medical rescue services said the shooter was also dead in the attack. The shooting left 25 people injured, 10 of them seriously, according to BBC News.

The president of the Czech Republic’s national police force identified the shooter as a 24-year-old student who was inspired by similar shootings abroad, The Guardian reported. Police said on social media that they saw no early indications that the shooter was “connected to any terrorist organization.”

The gunman was not identified by name. Investigators believe he chose his victims at random and said he had no prior criminal history, according to BBC News. In the aftermath of the shooting, authorities said they found possible links between him and two killings reported last week, the news network reported.

The gunman opened fire inside a building at Charles University just before 3 p.m. local time (9 a.m. EST). Gunshots rang out about two-and-a-half hours after police found the shooter’s father dead at his home in Hostoun, a town west of Prague, according to The Guardian. Police learned that he had a lecture at Charles University starting at 2 p.m. and evacuated the building, the newspaper reported. However, the shooter went instead to a different building and began shooting, officials said.

In a statement posted on social media, Czech Foreign Affairs Minister Jan Lipavský said in that the shooting happened in the Faculty of Arts at Charles University.

“My condolences to the families of the victims,” he wrote. “I think of the injured, their loved ones, the students and everyone affected by this appalling act.”

About an hour after the shooting began, police said the gunman had been “eliminated.” It was not immediately clear whether he died in a shootout with police. At a news conference, Czech Police President Martin Vondrášek said early information indicated that the shooter had taken his own life, CNN reported.

Targ Patience, who was staying at an apartment near the scene of the shooting, told BBC News that he heard “a lot of gunshots” on Thursday.

“I looked out of my balcony and saw the police arrive,” he said. “A few officers were having a hard time stopping people walking towards the scene.”

Authorities closed the area as part of their investigation and urged people to stay away.

Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, said in a statement on social media that she was “Shocked by the senseless violence of the shooting that claimed several lives today in Prague.”

“I express my deepest condolences to the families of the victims and the to Czech people as a whole,” she wrote. “We stand and mourn with you.”

Czech President Petr Pavel also shared his shock and condolences on social media. He thanked citizens for “respecting the instructions of the security forces and providing maximum cooperation.”