The gunman who unleashed terror on Prague, killing at least 14 and injuring dozens has been identified as David Kozak, a 24-year-old student of Charles University. Before the terror shooting spree from the university rooftop of his university, Kozak murdered his own father. Kozak's rampage marks the worst mass shooting in the history of the Czech Republic.
Terrified onlookers were seen rushing away in fear, raising their hands in the air during the gunfire at Charles University in Prague. Some people were also seen jumping from windows onto ledges as they attempted to flee the chaotic scene. Here's all we know about Kozak and the Charles University shooting so far.
Who Was David Kozak?
Kozak fatally shot 14 people and injured 25 others in a rampage that specifically targeted students at his downtown Prague university, according to police reports. Authorities added that after executing the horrifying attack, Kozak was shot dead.
Before proceeding to the Czech capital, where he indiscriminately shot people from the balcony of the Charles University Arts faculty, Kozak killed his father in Hostoun.
He had a huge arsenal of weapons and ammunition, as confirmed by the country's Interior Minister, who said that if the police hadn't intervened in the building swiftly, the assailant would not have been found dead on the roof, and the number of victims could have been much higher.
In the period preceding his violent spree, it is believed that Kozak maintained a diary in Russian on the messaging app Telegram. In one disturbing post, he wrote, "I want to do a school shooting and possibly suicide."
Fresh reports reveal that authorities are exploring the possibility that Kozak may have been involved in the killing of a 32-year-old father and his two-month-old daughter in Klanovice, near Prague.
Following the perpetrator's disappearance, hundreds of police officers conducted a thorough search of the wooded area. The authorities are currently investigating whether the two separate killing sprees could be connected.
The police have not provided details about the victims or a potential motive for the country's worst-ever mass shooting. Nonetheless, Czech Interior Minister Vit Rakusan said that there is no suspected link to any extremist ideology or groups.
Brilliant Student with No Criminal Records
Police Chief Martin Vondrasek revealed that the shooter was a student in the philosophy department of Charles University and described him as an excellent student with no criminal record.
A Telegram account attributed to Kozák featured disturbing posts, including one on December 17 that stated, "I hate the world and want to leave as much pain as possible."
The final post, dated December 19, mentioned, "I have a ringing in my ears ... like some kind of f–king fireflies. I wanted to rip my ears out."
The massacre on Thursday is the Czech Republic's most devastating mass shooting to date, and it is suspected that Kozak drew inspiration from a recent school shooting carried out by a 14-year-old schoolgirl in Russia earlier this month.
Kozák allegedly wrote on December 10, "I want to do a school shooting and possibly suicide, Alina Afanaskina helped me too much," referring to the Bryansk school shooter who killed two students before taking her own life.
The chilling post in what the writer called their 'diary' about 'life before the shooting' went on: "I always wanted to kill, I thought I would become a maniac in the future."
Merely five days after the troubling posts surfaced online, a father and baby girl were fatally shot in Klanovice, situated in a forest area outside of Prague.
In response, over 250 police officers were dispatched to search the area, and a helicopter equipped with thermal imaging was deployed to comb through the woodland. Unfortunately, the gunman was never located.
Kozak's death is likely a suicide. Authorities are actively investigating the possibility that he may have been killed by police during the exchange of gunfire.
"We always thought that this was a thing that did not concern us. Now it turns out that, unfortunately, our world is also changing and the problem of the individual shooter is emerging here as well," Prague Mayor Bohuslav Svoboda told Czech Television of the horrifying act of violence.
A person bearing a resemblance to Kozák was observed carrying a large gun on the roof of the university, as depicted in a pair of photos circulating on social media.
"I saw a young person on the gallery who had some weapon in his hand, like and automatic weapon, and shooting toward the Manes Bridge," Petr Nedoma, the director of a gallery in Jan Palach Square, where the philosophy department of the university is located, told Czech TV of his brief encounter with the shooter.
