2023 Prague shootings

2023 Prague shootings
Faculty of Arts, Charles University and Mánes Bridge, the site of the shooting
2023 Prague shootings is located in Prague city centre
2023 Prague shootings
2023 Prague shootings (Prague city centre)
LocationPrague and Hostouň, Czech Republic
Coordinates50°05′21″N 14°24′58″E / 50.08917°N 14.41611°E / 50.08917; 14.41611
Date15 and 21 December 2023
~14:55[1] – 15:20 (CET, UTC+1)
TargetStudents and staff at Faculty of Arts, Charles University
Attack type
School shooting, mass shooting, mass murder, spree shooting, murder–suicide, patricide, pedicide
WeaponsKlánovice Forest:

Hostouň:

University classrooms:

University rooftop:

  • .308 ZEV AR-10 semi-automatic rifle
  • 12-gauge Francolin Guardian pump-action shotgun (suicide)[2]
Deaths18 (including the perpetrator; 1 indirectly)[a][b][3]
Injured25
PerpetratorDavid Kozák[4][5]
MotiveRevenge on society[6]
class=notpageimage|
Location of the murder sites in and around Prague. Hostouň is located just off the edge of this map.

On 21 December 2023, 14 people were killed and 22 injured in a mass shooting at the main Faculty of Arts building of Charles University in central Prague, Czech Republic. Another three people were injured when the perpetrator opened fire toward the streets from the faculty's fourth-floor rooftop terrace.[7][8][9][10][11][12] After having been engaged by the police, the perpetrator, 24-year-old postgraduate student David Kozák, committed suicide by shooting himself.[13][14][15] Before the attack, his father was found murdered at his home in Hostouň.

At the time of the shooting, the perpetrator was one in a pool of about 4,000 suspects in a double murder case that took place six days earlier, 25 kilometres (16 mi) away, when a father and his infant daughter were murdered in Klánovice. The lead investigator confirmed that the police had not yet reviewed the perpetrator's potential as a suspect in the earlier killings when the Prague shootings took place. Still, evidence found in the latter event did link the two incidents.

The attack was the deadliest mass murder in the Czech Republic since its independence in 1993, surpassing the 2020 Bohumín arson attack.[16][17][18]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference police knew was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b c d Janouš, Václav; Kolář, Petr (17 June 2024). "Pravda o střelbě na fakultě. Unikátní rekonstrukce, vrah přišel ve 13:23". iDNES.cz (in Czech). Mafra. Retrieved 17 June 2024.
  3. ^ Kassam, Ashifa (29 December 2023). "Prague university gunman 'confessed' to earlier killings of baby and her father". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 28 December 2023. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
  4. ^ Ehl, Martin (21 December 2023). "Inspirací útočníka mohly být střelby v Rusku. Objevil se i účet na Telegramu". Hospodářské noviny (in Czech). Economia. Archived from the original on 21 December 2023. Retrieved 22 December 2023.
  5. ^ "Predstavím sa, som David. Vždy som chcel zabíjať... Zanechal masový vrah z Prahy svoj manifest?". Pravda.sk (in Slovak). 21 December 2023. Archived from the original on 23 December 2023. Retrieved 22 December 2023.
  6. ^ Ciroková, Kristina; Valášek, Lukáš (12 June 2024). "Závěr vyšetřování: Motivem vraha z fakulty byla pomsta společnosti". Seznam Zprávy (in Czech). Retrieved 15 June 2024.
  7. ^ "Prague shooting: Several dead and dozens injured in university shooting". BBC News. 21 December 2023. Archived from the original on 21 December 2023. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
  8. ^ Laca, Peter (21 December 2023). "Several Dead, Wounded in Prague University Shooting, Police Say". Bloomberg News. Archived from the original on 21 December 2023. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
  9. ^ Nohl, Radek; Svihel, Petr. "Po střelbě na Filozofické fakultě je deset mrtvých, další jsou vážně zranění". Seznamzpravy (in Czech). Archived from the original on 21 December 2023. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
  10. ^ "Gunman dead after killing 14 at Prague's Charles University". 21 December 2023. Archived from the original on 21 December 2023. Retrieved 23 December 2023.
  11. ^ Bureš, Vítězslav (22 December 2023). "Policie zná totožnost už 13 obětí střelby, mezi zraněnými jsou tři cizinci". iDNES.cz (in Czech). Czech News Agency. Archived from the original on 22 December 2023. Retrieved 22 December 2023.
  12. ^ Prague shooting: 15 dead in Prague, including gunman, 21 December 2023, archived from the original on 22 December 2023, retrieved 22 December 2023
  13. ^ "Vrah z fakulty se sám zastřelil, patrně brokovnicí oznámila policie - Echo24.cz". 22 December 2023. Archived from the original on 24 December 2023. Retrieved 7 January 2024.
  14. ^ Higgins, Andrew; Gross, Jenny; Toler, Aric (21 December 2023). "At Least 15 Dead in Czech Republic After Shooting at Prague University". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 21 December 2023. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
  15. ^ Bayer, Lili (22 December 2023). "Prague shooter killed himself after attack on university, police say – as it happened". the Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 23 December 2023. Retrieved 23 December 2023.
  16. ^ "What we know about the mass shooting in Prague". BBC News. 21 December 2023. Archived from the original on 22 December 2023. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
  17. ^ De Vynck, Gerrit; Brady, Kate (21 December 2023). "At least 15 dead in shootings at university in Prague". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 22 December 2023. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
  18. ^ Higgins, Andrew; Gross, Jenny (22 December 2023). "After Czech Mass Shooting, Shock, Grief and a Focus on Guns". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 25 December 2023. Retrieved 26 December 2023.


Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).