The Czech Republic on Saturday mourned the victims of a university shooting in the capital Prague that has left 14 people dead.
Czech flags flew at half-mast at official and public institutions. At noon, church bells rang across the country, and people observed a minute of silence in memory of the victims of the shooting at the Faculty of Arts of Charles University.
Saturday has been declared a state mourning day by the government. In Prague, people came in the rain to the faculty’s building in the city center, placing candles and flowers outside the building. A memorial service was also held in the St. Vitus Cathedral at Prague Castle. Christmas markets in some Czech cities have also canceled or reduced their programs.
Czech Red Cross staff work near the building of the Faculty of Arts of Charles University in Prague, the Czech Republic, Dec. 22, 2023. (Xinhua/Deng Yaomin)
On Thursday, a 24-year-old student from the faculty shot and killed 14 people before committing suicide. The tragic incident also left 25 others injured, among whom, three were foreigners, according to police.
Following the shooting, police on Friday tightened nationwide preventive measures concerning schools and other so-called soft targets.
Czech Interior Minister Vit Rakusan has called the shooting “a terrible act, unprecedented in the history of the Czech Republic,” adding that there is no indication that the shooting was linked to “international terrorism.”
Before this latest incident, the most devastating mass shooting in the Czech Republic occurred in 2015, when a gunman unleashed gunfire in the southeastern town of Uhersky Brod, claiming eight lives before fatally shooting himself. ■
