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David K.* (†24) claimed the lives of at least 14 people in Prague on Thursday. He shot her in cold blood at Charles University before dying himself.
The mass murder shocks the Czech Republic. Investigations are underway. Blick classifies what is currently known about the shooter, his motive and background.
1
The state of affairs
Even before David K. opened fire at the University of Prague, he murdered his father at home in Hostouň, about half an hour’s drive from the capital. The alerted police officers found the body in the afternoon.
The student from the Faculty of Philosophy was scheduled to give a lecture at 2 p.m. Instead, the shooter starts killing – from the fourth floor, he shoots his victims with the infamous AR-15 assault rifle that American shooters often use.
“I was giving a lecture at university when shots were fired into the building and the windows started shaking,” one professor wrote on Facebook.
The emergency services were able to report K.’s death shortly after 3 p.m. – about twenty minutes after the first emergency calls came in. His body lay on the sidewalk of the education building on Jan-Palach-Platz, not far from the famous Charles Bridge. He reportedly committed suicide.
2
The victims
The result of the bloody massacre: 14 dead and 25 injured, ten of whom were life-threatening. All police officers were unharmed.
Some students had managed to barricade themselves in the lecture halls.
Others ran for their lives in panic. An impressive photo shows several people sitting on a wall ledge under a window.
A video later shows them managing to jump onto a balcony below the ledge.
Police reported that thirteen fatalities had occurred on Friday morning. Further details about them are currently unknown.
Interior Minister Vit Rakusan confirmed that three foreign citizens were among the injured. Two are from the United Arab Emirates and one is from the Netherlands.
The investigators also suspect that K. shot two other people last Friday in the Prague suburb of Kladensk: a father (†32) and his daughter (†2 months), who met the young man during a walk in the forest. According to police, he had no relationship with these two people and may have selected them purely at random.
3
The perpetrator
David K. studied history and European studies at the Faculty of Humanities. The young man was considered a good student. In May this year he received an award from the Polish Institute in Prague for his work entitled “Problems of confrontation of the Galician peasant uprisings and the Krakow uprisings of 1846,” writes the Czech portal “Expres”.
He had no previous convictions. During his rampage, however, he apparently planned to kill significantly more people. Police found a bag with more weapons that he took to the university. He had the corresponding certificates for a number of these weapons.
On Thursday evening, his apartment in Hostouň was searched and his computer was seized.
4
The motive
There are no indications of a terrorist background, says Czech Interior Minister Vit Rakusan. K. is also said to have been a lone perpetrator.
Shortly after the rampage, several media outlets came across a Telegram channel registered to the perpetrator and in Russian. The channel launched on December 9 with the post: “This will be my diary of my journey to school shooting”. K. had planned his crime over a long period of time.
More disturbing reports follow. In the messages he harbored a grudge against humanity, believed that he was hated by everyone and wrote that he always wanted to kill.
The young man was apparently “inspired” in his plan by 14-year-old student Alina A.*, who killed a fellow student and herself at a high school in Bryansk, Russia, on December 7, as he writes.
He also hinted at another mass shooting in Russia. In May 2021, Ilnas G.* shot nine people in a school in Kazan.
“When Ilnas committed the shooting, I realized that it is more profitable to commit mass murders than serial murders.”
K. also wrote that he initially planned to make the account public from the start. But then he found instructions according to which it was better to make the channel public only a few hours before the crime. Last week he again toyed with the idea of suicide: “I drink tea and want to shoot myself,” he wrote.
The last message was written on Tuesday. The account has now been deleted.
It is unclear why he chose the university of all places and whether he knew his victims.
5
The reactions
Czech President Petr Pavel (62) expressed his condolences to the families of the dead. He thanked the citizens of X for following the instructions of the security forces. As announced by the Head of State, Pavel is canceling his current visit to France and returning early to the Czech Republic.
The Swiss ambassador to the Czech Republic, Philippe Guex, also expressed his condolences. “I express my sincere condolences to the families of the victims and my deepest condolences to the Czech government and the entire Czech people,” he wrote on X.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz was deeply dismayed. “Our thoughts are with the families and friends of the victims, our condolences go out to our Czech friends,” the SPD politician wrote on X.
The White House led by US President Joe Biden also offered its full support to the Eastern European country. “The US is shocked by the senseless act of violence.”
Precautions are in place nationwide in the Czech Republic on Friday morning. While there is no information about a specific threat, the idea is to “send a message” that police are “here and ready.”
*Name known
Source: Blick
I am Amelia James, a passionate journalist with a deep-rooted interest in current affairs. I have more than five years of experience in the media industry, working both as an author and editor for 24 Instant News. My main focus lies in international news, particularly regional conflicts and political issues around the world.
