Gunman shoots six dead in Czech hospital

At least six people have been killed and a further two seriously injured in a shooting at a hospital in the Czech Republic.

Armed security personnel were called to the Ostrava Teaching Hospital in the eastern city of Ostrava at 7.19am local time (6.19am GMT) on Tuesday. Police say the shooter, believed to be a 42-year-old man, opened fire in an outpatients waiting room, fatally wounding four men and two women, before fleeing the scene in a car.

“After officers tracked down the gunman, he shot himself in the head before the emergency services had a chance to intervene,” says The Telegraph.

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Officers had earlier appealed to the public to help in their search for the gunman, but warned that he should not be approached. They also tweeted an image of a person of interest.

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According to the BBC, police said they had established the suspect’s “name, had photographs of him and had obtained his vehicle licence plate number”.

Security across the Czech Republic has been boosted following the shooting.

Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis told Czech public television that he would be visiting the hospital today. “It’s something we’re not used to in our country. I absolutely don’t understand the motive of this young man,” Babis said.

President Milos Zeman tweeted his condolences to the victims and their families, saying: “I’m with you in my heart, I’m thinking of you in these tragic hours.”

The Independent reports that the “unexplained attack” is the “worst shooting in the country since eight people were killed at a restaurant in Uhersky Brod in 2015”.