A gunman killed at least 15 people and wounded at least 24 others at a mass shooting incident at Prague's Charles University in the Czech Republic late Thursday afternoon on December 21.
Police officers were forced to "eliminate" the gunman in what could be considered the Czech Republic's worst-ever mass shooting, Reuters reported.
Gun crime is relatively rare in the Czech Republic, with the latest shooter event happening in 2019 after a 42-year-old gunman killed six people in a hospital waiting room in the eastern Czech city of Ostrava before fleeing and fatally shooting himself.
In response to the incident, Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala canceled his planned trip to the east of the country and is now en route to Prague.
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![[UPDATE] Gunman Kills At Least 15 Dead in Prague Shooting](https://1075914428.rsc.cdn77.org/data/images/full/284992/update-gunman-kills-at-least-15-dead-in-prague-shooting.jpg?w=820 "[UPDATE] Gunman Kills At Least 15 Dead in Prague Shooting")
How It Happened
The shooting began shortly at the Charles University's Faculty of Arts building in Jan Palach Square after 15:00 local time (14:00 UTC). It was believed that the father of the shooter—a student at the university—was also found dead earlier on Thursday.
"We always thought that this was a thing that did not concern us," Prague Mayor Bohuslav Svoboda told local media. "Now it turns out that, unfortunately, our world is also changing and the problem of the individual shooter is emerging here as well."
Police have sealed off the square and the area adjacent to the building, which is located in a busy part of town on a popular street that leads tourists to Old Town Square.
The name of the gunman and his motivates have not yet been made public by Czech police.
Related Article: Multiple Dead, Injured in School Shooting in Prague
