Cops confirm gun owned by Prague shooter used to kill father and baby

22 December 2023 , 19:28

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Image of the gunman weapon recovered by police (Image: CZECH 24 TV/UNPIXS)

The gunman who shot dead 13 people and injured 25 others at a Prague university also murdered a father and a newborn baby in a forest last week, police have confirmed.

The shooter, named in local media as David Kozak, 24, was suspected of being behind the random attack on a 32-year-old father and his two-month-old daughter. Their bodies were found in a woodland 11 miles east of the Czech capital on December 15. Now police appear to have linked the mass murderer to the deaths.

The Interior Minister said that it is with "maximum probability" that the student is responsible for the double murder and Czech police said they found evidence linking him to the double murder. Police spokesman Jan Daněk told iDNES.cz that a weapon found at Kozak's property was used to shoot the father and daughter.

The gunman is also understood to have killed his own father in their family home in a village near the town of Kladno, outside of Prague. Authorities said today that 13 people died at the scene in the Faculty of Arts and one died later in a hospital after Kozak's bloody rampage.

A total of 25 people were wounded, including three foreign nationals — two from the United Arab Emirates and one from the Netherlands. Authorities warned that the death toll could rise. Residents were grappling with the nation's worst mass shooting in the heart of the historic capital city.

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Political leaders, students, friends of the victims and others came together to light candles during an impromptu vigil for the victims. The Czech government declared Saturday a national day of mourning.

Petr Matejcek, the director of the police regional headquarters in Prague, said the gunman, whose name has not been released, killed himself on the balcony of the university building as officers closed in. Police have not released the gunman's name, but said they believe he was Czech.

David Kozak,​ 24, Prague shooter (social media, Check police/ East2west News)

The head of the murder department at Prague police said at a press conference: "I think we were days from uncovering the shooter as the shooter from the forest. I am extremely sorry for what happened. I am convinced we did our best."

Police have released no details about a possible motive for the shooting. The interior minister said Thursday that investigators didn’t suspect a link to any extremist ideology or groups.

Officials said they believed the gunman acted alone. He has no criminal record. Police said the shooter legally owned several guns and that he was heavily armed during the attack.

Rachel Hagan