A Prague university student shot dead at least 14 people and injured 25 others before killing himself in what is believed to be the worst mass shooting in modern Czech history.
Authorities warned that the death toll could rise, adding that the shooting had been "a premeditated violent attack", apparently inspired by similar massacres abroad.
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President Petr Pavel declared Saturday a day of national mourning, and stressed that the killings should not be used to launch political attacks. The shootings were not connected to international or domestic terrorism, Czech interior minister Vít Rakušan said.
The attack began shortly after 3pm. Teachers and students were instructed by email to take shelter, stay put, lock doors and turn off lights. By 3.20pm, the shooter's body was lying on a ledge of a university building with "devastating injuries". Authorities confirmed on Friday that the attacker had killed himself.
European leaders sent their condolences, with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen posting on X that she was "shocked by the senseless violence".
Gun crime is "relatively rare" in the Czech Republic, said The Guardian, with yesterday's shooting believed to be the country's deadliest in modern history.
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