In one of the deadliest shootings in the Czech Republic, a 24-year-old student identified as David Kozak unleashed a bloodbath at the Charles University in Prague on Thursday.
According to Reuters, David first killed his father before carrying out a mass shooting at the university, in which he gunned down 14 people and left 25 others wounded. He targeted the Faculty of Arts, where David was a student himself.
Following the shooting, police eliminated David, but the incident caused mass panic and evacuations were carried out in the area. As the authorities sealed off the area around the faculty building, people were urged to stay indoors. Some students also took refuge in classrooms.
Here are five things to know about David Kazok:
1. The 24-year-old suspect, David Kozak was a student at Charles University, where he carried out the shooting. He was studying Polish history in the university and had a bachelor’s degree in history and European studies.
2. The officers said that David had "devastating injures", and police suspect he shot himself after exchanging fire with the officers, reported The Telegraph.
3. David had written about his will to carry out a "school shooting and possible suicide" on his Telegram account, which he considered as his "diary". He had kept his channel private and made it public just hours before the shooting. The messages have been taken down now.
4. According to some sources, he was a legal gun owner, and it is believed that he was inspired by previous shooting cases. In the now deleted messages on Telegram, he wrote "Alina Afanaskina helped me so much." Afanaskina had shot several people in a mass shooting at Bryansk school in Russia earlier this month, reported The Telegraph.
5. According to a report by Czech news outlet Novinky, Kozak may be also linked to a murder that happened in Czechia's Klánovice forest. Prague Police Chief Martin Vondrasek said that the shooter may have also killed a man and an infant in Klánovice.
(With Reuters inputs)
Published 22 December 2023, 11:50 IST