A gunman who claimed 14 lives in the Czech Republic’s worst mass shooting killed himself as police moved in.
Today has been declared a day of mourning in the shocked central European nation.
It has emerged that rifle maniac David Kozak may have killed three other people before he launched his bloody assault on the ancient Charles University in Prague’s Old Town yesterday afternoon.
Kozak is said to have fantasised about killing, and suffered personal problems including depression.
However, authorities are still seeking a motive for the carnage that began around 3pm local time.
As well as the 14 killed, 25 people were injured including 10 seriously during Kozak’s rampage with a sniper rifle.
The 24-year-old former history student is thought to have also killed his father shortly before the university massacre.
He is also being linked to the murder of a dad and his newborn baby in Klánovický les national forest last week.
The first victim of the mass shooting was named yesterday as Lenka Hlavkova, head of the Institute of Musicology. Jakob Weizman, a journalist and student, heard “gunshots” and “screaming” while sitting a language exam.
Panicked, he and his teacher locked themselves in their classroom.
Jakob spoke of his terror when the killer tried to open the door, adding: “He was going through each classroom to see if people were there to shoot them. As we were walking out, there was just blood all over the faculty.”
Professor Radek Samik had been teaching a class when he heard gunshots.
He said: “It’s still coming back to me, I can’t get it out of my head.”
“Even though I didn’t see much but it’s just the sheer experience that you go through, it’s a shock.”
Czech interior minister Vít Rakušan said the attack “could have been much worse” and added: “We don’t have particular proof or information from him why he decided to do something so terrible.”
Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala laid flowers outside the university’s main building as the government announced that today would be a day of mourning.
Last night, hundreds of people gathered for a candlelit vigil in the Czech capital, which is famous for its architecture and nightlife.
All 25 injured, who include one Dutch national and two from the UAE, are said to have suffered wounds which are not life-threatening.
A British holidaymaker told of unwittingly escaping the shooting spree by popping into a cafe.
Cornishman Chris Lock emerged to find armed police ushering people to safety as Kozak fired randomly.
Chris added that they could not find a table and left the cafe soon after but were inside long enough to be safe.
He told the BBC: “We consider ourselves to be very lucky.
“We genuinely believe that if we had not decided to pop to the cafe we may have been victims.”
Chris, of Bodmin, added: “We were sightseeing in Prague yesterday. We saw the university, we walked towards it and went in.”
“Then my wife said there’s a lovely cafe where the students go, let’s go and get a drink there. As we stepped out, we were confronted by a police officer shouting, ‘Run away, run away now – people are being shot’.
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