22 December 2023 , 14:52
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Panicked students cowered behind barricaded doors yesterday as mass killer David Kozak picked off students and professors with a sniper rifle.
The gunman slaughtered 14 people and left 25 with injuries during the sickening rampage at Charles University in Prague's downtown area. It was quickly branded the deadliest mass shooting in the history of the Czech Republic by police, who linked the events to another killing in which a newborn baby and their dad were murdered in a "random attack" in a forest just a few days earlier.
After entering the building, he made his way up the stairs to an external balcony, where he set up with a massive arsenal of weapons and ammunition. Writing in his "diary" on the Telegram messaging app, he said "I want to do a school shooting and possibly suicide".
Chilling images showed the shooter clad all in black swinging his rifle between targets as he picked off students and tourists on the campus grounds. Some people were seen fleeing in terror as others cowered underneath a window ledge in the hopes of avoiding Kozak's sights.
New pictures show what was happening inside the university at the time as students desperately scrambled to build a makeshift barricade strong enough that the monster could not enter.
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Speaking to CNN, graduate student Jakob Weizman, 25, explained how he and his professor heard the clamour of gunshots and screams growing louder and louder.
"My professor tried to lock the door, but it would not work," Weizman said. He added that eventually they managed to lock it, and scoured the room for suitable furniture that would work as a barricade. Weizman said that a few minutes later, someone "tried to open the door very violently", adding that he believes it could have been the killer.
David Kozak is accused of killing his father a week before the rampage (social media, Check police/ East2west News)
Students and staff flee during the shooting (@nexta_tv/Twitter)"After I made the barricade and locked the door, I hid under the desk and I was preparing myself for anything that could happen," Weizman added. "I did not know if he was going to come through the door or from the window." Weizman, who lived as a US resident for 15 years, said he thought by moving to Europe, he would never experience a mass shooting event. "You think it will never happen," he said. "I'm still processing a lot."
The 25-year-old said once the police had arrived, he took down the barricade and let them in, but as he was escorted out of the building, he recalled seeing blood streaking along the floor.
The identities of the victims have not yet all been revealed, but it's believed that a handful of them were foreign nationals holidaying in the popular tourist city. So far three of those wounded are said to have been foreigners - two from Saudi Arabia and one from the Netherlands. The Foreign Office has so far not cofirmed any Brits among those involved.
One of the weapons found in the police operation (CZECH 24 TV/UNPIXS)Authorities yesterday stressed the death toll could have been greater. Police have sealed off the square and the area adjacent to the university building, which is located in a busy part of town that has a popular street leading tourists to Old Town Square.
Police also said Kozak is suspected in the killing a dad and his two-month-old daughter at a forest in the east of Prague just one week ago. A search of the 24-year-old student's home led to police to believe this is the case. More than 250 police officers were sent to search the area and a helicopter with thermal imaging was used to scour the woodland area, but the gunman was never found.
The forest near Klanovicky is just a 30-minute drive from the university. However, police understand the victims of the double killing days ago were not known to Kozak and they were "completely randomly selected".