A gunman has killed ten people at a art school.
10 people are killed in a mass shooting in downtown Prague
UPDATED DECEMBER 21, 202311:05 AM ET
By
The Associated Press
An ambulance drives towards the building of Philosophical Faculty of Charles University in downtown Prague on Thursday after a deadly shooting.
Petr David Josek/AP
PRAGUE — A mass shooting in downtown Prague killed 10 people and injured about 30 others, and the person who opened fire also is dead, Czech police and the city’s rescue service said Thursday.
Police gave no details about the victims or the circumstances of the gunfire in the Czech Republic’s capital. They said officers were deployed due to a shooting at a school in Jan Palach Square.
The philosophy department of Charles University, which is located in the square, was evacuated, Prague Mayor Bohuslav Svoboda said.
The police department said the square has been sealed off. It urged people to leave the surrounding streets and stay inside.
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Czech Interior Minister Vit Rakusan said no other assailant was at the scene, but he urged people to cooperate with police.
Prague’s rescue service confirmed that 11 people had died, including the shooter. It said about 30 others suffered various injuries, including nine with serious ones.
Pavel Nedoma, the director of Rudolfinum Gallery, which also is located in the square, told Czech public television he saw from a window a person who was shooting from a gun toward the nearby Manes bridge across the Vltava River.
Prime Minister Petr Fiala canceled his scheduled events and was heading for Prague.
AB CS Lama Hasan is live in London with more
Several killed, dozens wounded in Prague University shooting
Several people were killed and dozens were injured in a shooting at Prague University on Thursday, according to Czech police.
The suspect was “eliminated,” officials said.
Police officers secure an area after a shooting in downtown Prague, Czech Republic, Dec. 21, 2023.© Petr David Josek/AP
Armed police are seen on the balcony of the university in central Prague, Dec. 21, 2023.© Michal Cizek/AFP via Getty Images
Police advised people in the area not to go outside, and said evacuations were taking place.
A police officer cordon off an area near the university in central Prague, Dec. 21, 2023.© Michal Cizek/AFP via Getty Images
An ambulance drives towards the building of Philosophical Faculty of Charles University in downtown Prague, Czech Republic, Dec. 21, 2023.© Petr David Josek/AP
As chaos broke out, people fled from Prague’s Old Town, running across the iconic Charles Bridge.
Leo Menindez, from Mexico, told ABC News, “We started hearing the police sirens and ambulances from the Charles Bridge. Then we started hearing the shots and then everyone started to run.”
People run from the scene of a shooting in downtown Prague, Czech Republic, Dec. 21, 2023.© Leo Menindez
People run from the scene of a shooting in downtown Prague, Czech Republic, Dec. 21, 2023.© Leo Menindez
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