Prague shooting: Sniper rifle gunman was student who murdered his father then opened fire at random from university rooftop, killing at least 15 people in Czech Republic’s worse ever mass shooting before taking his own life

The gunman who unleashed terror on Prague today murdered his father before randomly shooting people from the balcony of a top university where he was a student – killing at least 15, police have said.

A chilling image shared on local media purports to show the man dressed in black aiming a rifle at people below while standing on top of the Charles University Faculty of Arts building this afternoon.

Terrified students and tourists were seen fleeing from the building as gunshots rang out in what is one of Europe’s top tourist hotspots, with witnesses saying the gunman was picking off his victims one by one. 

Elite cops were seen storming the philosophy department building of Charles University, where the gunman was a student, with police saying the gunman had been ‘eliminated’ at 4pm – an hour after the deadly carnage began.

Police said the gunman’s body had been found in the area and suggested he had taken his own life when cops closed in on him – though cops did say they had fired at him. 

‘Due to the devastating injury sustained by the suspect, we are unable to confirm his identity,’ police spokesman Martin Vondráček said. ‘From the information available to me, there should have been a suicide, however, the police also used a service weapon.’

The gunman, believed to be 24 years old, had fired at his victims one by one from the top of the building – hours after he is said to have murdered his father. At least 15 people were killed in Czech Republic’s worst ever mass shooting since the nation emerged as an independent state in 1993. 

Dramatic video showed terrified crowds of tourists and locals sprinting across the famous Charles Bridge – one of Europe’s top tourist sites – after they heard the sickening sound of gunshots in the city.

In separate footage, people were seen running with their hands raised in the air from the prestigious University’s Faculty of Arts building in the capital, as armed police officers swooped in. 

The shooting started at 3pm and police said the gunman was ‘eliminated’ at 4pm after elite cops were seen storming the building. At least 15 people were killed in the shooting and more than 20 were injured – 11 seriously, Prague’s emergency services said. 

Other extraordinary images show terrified students cowering on a ledge high up on a balcony in a bid to hide from the gunman after others were told to barricade themselves in classrooms. 

A faculty member of the university, Zora Hesova, said people were locked in classrooms inside the building as armed police officers descended on the scene. 

Police later said they killed the gunman after they stormed the building and have evacuated everyone who was trapped inside.

‘The gunman was eliminated!!!’ police said on X, formerly Twitter. ‘The building is currently being evacuated and there are several dead and dozens of wounded people on the scene.’ 

Extraordinary images show the gunman, who was dressed in black, standing on the roof of the faculty building and pointing his rifle with a scope mounted on top at people down below. 

Petr Nedoma, the director of the Rudolfinum – a concert hall on the square across from the Faculty of Arts – told Czech broadcaster CT24: ‘Upstairs on the walkway of the Faculty of Arts, I saw a man standing with a gun in his hand and shooting towards the Mánes bridge with certain delays. 

‘I watched what was happening from inside the Rudolfinum for a long time. I stayed in the building and was by the windows for as much cover as possible.’

Nedoma added: ‘Then he put his hands up and threw the gun towards the road, it remained lying by the philosophy faculty. Then a lot of people appeared upstairs, I don’t know if it was the police. 

‘I left the window and watched the police evacuate people from the Faculty of Philosophy, taking them away with their hands behind their heads in different directions, a large number of cars, people running around.’ 

Terrified teachers and students at the Charles University Faculty of Arts were instructed to lock themselves in classrooms before they were evacuated.

Klara, a student, told news site iDnes.cz  she was among those who police evacuated from the building.

‘It was terribly scary, there were a lot of policemen everywhere, who were shouting at us with submachine guns, telling us to run outside,’ she said.

An email sent to staff and students at the Faculty of Arts of Charles University had said a shooter was in one of its buildings and had told staff to ‘stay put’.

‘Don’t go anywhere, if you’re in the offices, lock them and place furniture in front of the door, turn off the lights,’ the email said. 

One student, Deda Mrazek, said she was in the university’s library when the gunman began shooting at his victims. 

Sharing a picture of students hiding in the back of a computer lab, Deda wrote: ‘I am OK. I was in the library at the time of the shooting. 

‘They sent us to the back of the computer lab where there are no windows. Word has now spread that the gunman is dead.’ 

She said as soon as they heard the gunman had been killed, the terrified students all called their families to say that they were safe. 

The government said they will hold an emergency cabinet meeting to discuss the shooting at 9pm. 

The police have sealed off the square and the area adjacent to the university building, which is located in a busy part of town that has a popular street leading tourists to Old Town Square 

‘According to preliminary information, the shooter himself should be dead, there are dead and wounded on site, I will not speculate now about the final number,’ Interior Minister Vit Rakusan said on Czech Television.

Rakusan added ‘no other gunman has been confirmed’ and called on people to follow police instructions. 

Police in the Czech Republic’s capital have urged residents to shelter inside and avoid the area due to the shooting. 

President Petr Pavel tweeted: ‘I am shocked by the events at the Faculty of Arts of Charles University.

‘I would like to express my deep regret and sincere condolences to the families and relatives of the victims that the shooting claimed. 

‘I want to thank the citizens for respecting the instructions of the security forces and providing maximum cooperation.’

The British Embassy in Prague has urged people in the city, a hotspot for tourists, to avoid the around the Charles University and the Faculty of Arts. 

Prime Minister Petr Fiala cancelled his trip to the east of the country and was en route to Prague, he said on X.

Gun crime is relatively rare in the Czech Republic. In December 2019, a 42-year-old gunman killed six people at a hospital waiting room in the eastern Czech city of Ostrava before fleeing and fatally shooting himself, police said.

In 2015, a man fatally shot eight people and then killed himself at a restaurant in Uhersky Brod.