The Czech Republic dawned with black flags at half-mast next to the national tricolor, a day of mourning for the mass murder at the Faculty of Philosophy of the University of Prague.
At noon, when the church bells ring, the Czech Republic will pause for a minute of silence to pay respect to the victims, in all shops they will stop work for that minute and turn off the music, trams will ring for half a minute, buses and metro trains will sound their horns, firefighters and rescuers will come out in front of the stations.
Prague is turning off the festive lighting of the Christmas tree on the Old Town Square, like other cities, cultural and other Christmas events have been canceled, and sellers at Christmas fairs have been left to decide whether to close their stands.
On December 21, a history student killed 14 people with a rifle, and then himself, and wounded 25 people, 10 of them seriously. This mass murder is the worst such crime in the history of the Czech Republic, and one of the biggest in Europe in recent years.
Practically immediately after the news of the shooting at the Faculty of Philosophy of Charles University in Prague, Czechs began to light candles and lay flowers in front of the headquarters of Czech universities, not only Charles University in Prague but also Masaryk University in Brno and other cities, and millions of crowns were spontaneously collected to help the victims and their families.
A history student, 24-year-old David K. from the village of Hostounj near Prague is not only a mass murderer but also a serial killer, as ballistics analysis showed that a young Czech man and his baby were killed by his weapon when they were walking in the forest in Klanovice on the outskirts of Prague a week ago. and David K. was on the police list among about 4.000 people they were checking in connection with that murder.
Before leaving for his college on Thursday, David K. killed his father, confided in a text message to a friend that he was going to Prague to commit suicide, police said, but failed to show up for a lecture where police were looking for him in an adjacent building he already went to the main room, took a weapon and ammunition in his bag and started shooting on the fourth floor.
The former Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic Lubomir Zaoralek, who at that moment was lecturing to students on the floor below, said that they did not notice anything happening, the shooting sounded like Christmas firecrackers and household fireworks and as if someone was moving furniture, when the students on a message from the faculty to shoot, they barricaded themselves in the classrooms and halls.
Half a year ago, David K. acquired eight firearms, among them a shotgun with which he eventually took his own life on the roof of a building and, according to experts, a rifle on the AR-15 platform, the automatic version of which is prohibited for civilians in the Czech Republic, while with a permit for carrying weapons and with additional police approval, they can own it, and it is used in archery and hunting with a limit of two bullets in a magazine.
At least until January 1, the Czech police tightened security measures, especially for so-called soft targets such as schools or hospitals, and took to the streets and patrolled not only with guns but also with long barrels, especially since at this time of the year Prague is especially full of tourists.
Bonus video:
