Czech Government announces day of mourning on Saturday, 23 December for the mass shooting at Charles University and related killings, bells will be rung and the victims will be honored with a minute of silence

The Government made the decision at an emergency cabinet session attended by Czech President Petr Pavel and the President of the Chamber of Deputies, Markéta Pekarová Adamová (TOP 09). Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala (Civic Democratic Party – ODS) announced the day of mourning after the meeting.

Fiala called on the public to honor the memory of the victims of the tragedy with a minute of silence on Saturday. Bells will be rung throughout the republic.

The mass shooting in the center of Prague is the greatest such tragedy in the Czech Republic’s history. According to police, the attacker killed 14 people and injured 25, 10 of them seriously.

The shooter is also dead, apparently after committing suicide, although the intervening police officers also fired at him. Police have yet to confirm his identity because he suffered devastating injuries prior to his death.

Officers are working on the assumption that the suspect is a 24-year-old student at the Faculty of Arts from a place called Hostouň in Central Bohemia who allegedly also killed his own father in their home before traveling to Prague. They are also investigating the possibility that he may have committed a double murder in the Klánovický Forest six days ago in which the media report that a 32-year-old man and his two-month-old daughter were killed.

The Czech Republic last held an official day of mourning on 3 February 2020 to honor the memory of the President of the Senate, Jaroslav Kubera (ODS), who passed away suddenly, and prior to that, an official day of mourning was held on 12 October 2019, the day of the funeral for singer Karel Gott. Three days of mourning were held before Christmas on 21-23 December 2011 to honor the memory of late President Václav Havel, and two days of mourning were held on 17 and 18 April 2010 after the tragic crash of an airplane near Smolensk with Polish representatives on board, including President Lech Kaczyński.

Timeline of events around the mass shooting

12:20 – Police were informed that a 24-year-old man from Hostouň was travelling to Prague with a plan to take his own life, according to Police President Martin Vondrášek.

12:45 – Police were informed that a man had been found dead in Hostouň who would eventually turn out to be the father of the man suspected of perpetrating the mass shooting at Charles University’s Faculty of Arts, according to Vondrášek.

13:00 – According to the spokesperson for the Central Bohemian Emergency Services, Monika Nováková, emergency responders intervened at a single-family home in Hostouň near Kladno. They found a man dead at the scene. The coroner was summoned, as were bomb specialists and others. Central Bohemian Police announced a search for a young man related to the violent death of a man in the region. They cannot rule out the possibility that this death is related to the mass shooting at Charles University’s Faculty of Arts in Prague.

14:59 – Police received information that a shooting was underway in the building of the Faculty of Arts on Jan Palach Square. According to police, an intervention unit arrived after 12 minutes.

15:42 – Police called on the public not to remain in the area of Jan Palach Square, where the shooting at the university took place, and to shelter in place. The police raid was still underway.

15:43 – Police report there are dead and injured people at the scene of the mass shooting at a university in the center of Prague. Emergency responders posted that there was likely a larger number of wounded. The Czech News Agency reported that Charles University’s Faculty of Arts was the scene of the incident. Students were sharing information with each other online about people barricading themselves into classrooms and the library and that students were also being evacuated from the classrooms in the building on Celetná Street.

16:06 – Police report that they have disarmed the perpetrator of the shooting in the building of the Charles University’s Faculty of Arts. Several are dead at the scene and dozens are injured, the entire building on Jan Palach Square has been evacuated and the surrounding neighborhood closed down.

16:52 – Prague Emergency Services posts on X that 11 people including the attacker have died during a mass shooting in the building of Charles University’s Faculty of Arts and that a large number of people have been injured.

16:54 – Central Bohemian Police had announced their search for a young man in relation to the violent death of a man in the region and do not rule out a connection with the shooting at Charles University’s Faculty of Arts in Prague. Police spokesperson Michaela Richterová said the identity of the shooter was being verified.

16.56 – According to information from the Prague Emergency Services, the last wounded patient has now left the scene of the incident and the trauma plan would end at 17:08. A smaller number of units would remain at the scene for preventative reasons.

17:03 – Czech President Petr Pavel expresses deep regret and sorrow to the families and relatives of the victims of the shooting at Charles University’s Faculty of Arts. He thanked the public for respecting the security services’ instructions. The Office of the President also announced that Pavel would be returning immediately from his state visit to France to meet with the state security forces upon his return to the Czech Republic.

17:15 – European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen responds to the mass shooting in Prague on X, saying she is shocked by the “senseless violence” that has taken several human lives and expresses her condolences to the families of the victims.

17:23 – Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico expresses his sincere condolences to the families of the victims of the mass shooting at Charles University in Prague and says Slovakia is prepared to provide aid.

17:27 – German Interior Minister Nancy Fraeser posts to X that she is shocked by the shooting in Prague and thinking of her Czech friends and neighbors at this difficult time.

17:29 – Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán expresses his condolences on X to the bereaved family and friends of the victims of the Prague shooting, saying he is deeply shocked and praying for the victims.

17:37 – The Czech Government announces an emergency cabinet session on the mass shooting at Charles University’s Faculty of Arts.

17:38 – European Parliament President Roberta Metsola says she is deeply horrified by the attack on Charles University in Prague; condolences are also expressed by Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte.

17:45 – Emergency responders treated a total of 24 injured persons after the mass shooting in the building of Charles University’s Faculty of Arts, 11 of whom were seriously wounded, eight of whom moderately injured and five of whom were slightly injured physically. Prague Emergency Services announced that all patients have been transported to hospital and the trauma plan was ended shortly after 17:00.

17:51 – Slovak President Zuzana Čaputová posted to X that she is in contact with Czech President Pavel regarding the mass shooting in Prague. She expressed her sincere condolences and regret for the tragedy in the days leading up to Christmas.

18:00 – Police announced that they had been informed that the shooter would be attending a lecture in the Celetná Street building. That was why they evacuated that building, but the mass shooting then took place in a different university building.

18:04 – The perpetrator of the mass shooting at Charles University’s Faculty of Arts, according to the Police President, had apparently been inspired by a similar terrible event abroad.

18:10 – French President Emannuel Macron says: “I am greatly disturbed by the reports that the target of this murderous shooting was Charles University in Prague. I express my solidarity with all the victims, the wounded and their loved ones.”

18:19 – The shooting at Charles University’s Faculty of Arts in Prague has cost the lives of at least 15 people and injured 24. The number of victims was updated by Police President Martin Vondrášek. The identity of the shooter has yet to be confirmed by police, as he suffered devastating injuries prior to his own demise. Police are working on the assumption that he is also the suspect in the death perpetrated in the Kladno area.

18:37 – No emergency responders or police officers were injured during their intervention against the shooter, police report. A review of the crime scene has started.

19:21 – For the time being it seems the shooting at Charles University’s Faculty of Arts was the act of a lone gunman. Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala (ODS) informed journalists that it was not an action of international terrorism or any organized group.

19:40 – Israeli President Isaac Herzog expresses his condolences on X to the bereaved and to the entire Czech Republic over the tragic shooting at the Faculty of Arts in Prague.

20:00 – In response to the tragic shooting at Charles University’s Faculty of Arts in Prague, the White House expresses its regret for the “senseless violence” and says the United States of America is prepared to provide support to the Czech Republic in case of need.

20:19 – In Hostouň in the Kladno area, which is where the suspect in the tragic shooting at the Faculty of Arts in Prague is apparently from, police have closed off the space around the home of the suspect.

20:40 – Police President Vondrášek says police are assuming that the shooter from the Faculty of Arts was also responsible for murdering a man and a newborn in the Klánovický Forest. An enormous arsenal of weapons and ammunition has also been found in the building of the faculty. Had the police not quickly intervened, there would have been many more victims, he said.

20:42 – The shooting at Charles University’s Faculty of Arts in Prague resulted in 14 victims and 25 wounded, 10 of them seriously, Vondrášek said.

21:00 – Police have completed their search of the neighborhood surrounding the house in Hostouň in the Kladno area, which is where the perpetrator of the tragic mass shooting at the Faculty of Arts in Prague apparently came from. Firefighters have left the scene. A police officer told journalists at the scene that the area poses no danger.

21:06 – The Czech Government convenes an emergency cabinet session over the tragic mass shooting at Charles University’s Faculty of Arts attended by Czech President Petr Pavel, the head of the Chamber of Deputies, Markéta Pekarová Adamová (TOP 09), and the director of the Security Information Services (BIS), Michal Koudelka.

21:16 – Polish President Andrzej Duda expresses his condolences to the loved ones of the victims of the mass shooting at Charles University’s Faculty of Arts in Prague. He says the nation of Poland shares the pain of all who are suffering as a result of today’s events.

22:17 – The Charles University Foundation announces a collection in support of the families of the victims, the students and the teachers affected by the mass shooting at Charles University’s Faculty of Arts.

22:32 – Speaking at a press conference after the emergency cabinet session, Czech President Petr Pavel appeals to the media, to politicians and the public not to abuse the tragedy at Charles University’s Faculty of Arts for political reasons, not to attack the police, and not to spread disinformation.

22:34 – Czech Prime Minister Fiala says the Government has decided to make 23 December an official day of mourning over the tragic mass shooting.

22:42 – Czech Interior Minister Vít Rakušan (Mayors and Independents – STAN) expresses his appreciation for the work of the emergency responders at Charles University’s Faculty of Arts. He thanks the first police officers to arrive on the scene, who entered the building and exchanged fire with the attacker.