People in the Czech capital are mourning the victims of the worst mass shooting in the country’s history.
Political leaders, students, friends of the victims and others came together to light candles in tribute to the 14 dead at an impromptu vigil outside the university headquarters in Prague where the gunman opened fire, injuring 25 more.
The bloodshed took place at the Faculty of Arts of Charles University, where the 24-year-old gunman was a student, Prague police chief Martin Vondrasek said.
Authorities said three foreign nationals were among those wounded when the student opened fire, shooting dead 14 people before killing himself.
Interior minister Vit Rakusan said all 14 who died in Thursday’s attack have now been identified.
The Institute of Music Sciences confirmed that its head, Lenka Hlavkova, was among those killed.
The Czech foreign ministry confirmed two of the injured were from the United Arab Emirates and one was from the Netherlands.
Kristof Unger, a student, said: “A few of my friends study at the philosophy faculty at Charles University.
“And they have been really traumatised by the shooting there and I just wanted to make them feel a little bit better.”
Robert Hanus, another of the vigil’s attendees, said people should come together to make a stance against the attack. “This shouldn’t be normalised,” he said.
The university’s rector Milena Kralickova lit a candle, saying: “The academic community is shaken, deeply shaken.”
Petr Matejcek, the director of the police regional headquarters in Prague, said the gunman killed himself on the balcony of the university building when police officers approached him. His name has not been released.
Authorities have also warned that the death toll could rise.
Early on Friday, with the scene of the shooting still sealed off by the police, people arrived for the vigil at the university headquarters.
Police have boosted security at schools and other “soft targets” – usually public facilities that are difficult to secure – in a preventative measure.
University rectors also said they would work with police experts on measures to increase security around campus.
Police have released no details about the dead and wounded or a possible motive for the shooting at the building.
Mr Rakusan said investigators did not suspect a link to any extremist ideology or groups. Officials said they believe the gunman acted alone.
Police chief Mr Vondrasek said they believe the man killed his father earlier on Thursday in his home town of Hostoun, just west of Prague, and that he had also been planning to kill himself.
He also said the gunman was suspected of killing a man and his two-month-old daughter on December 15, in Prague.
Police said the gunman had legally owned several guns and that he was heavily armed during the attack.
Leaders from many countries, including the US, and the UN Secretary-General conveyed their condolences.
The Czech government has declared Saturday a national day of mourning to honour the victims.
Previously, the nation’s worst mass shooting was in 2015, when a gunman opened fire in the south-eastern town of Uhersky Brod, killing eight people before fatally shooting himself.
Charles University was established in 1348 and the Faculty of Arts is one of its oldest educational facilities.
The building where the shooting took place is located near the Vltava River in Jan Palach Square, a busy tourist area in Prague’s Old Town.
It is just a few minutes’ walk from the picturesque Old Town Square, a major tourist attraction where a popular Christmas market attracts thousands of visitors.
