- Title: Police give more details about weapon used in Prague shooting
- Date: 22nd December 2023
- Summary: PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC (DECEMBER 22, 2023) (REUTERS) CZECH POLICE OFFICIALS SEATED FOR PRESS CONFERENCE AFTER SHOOTING AT PRAGUE UNIVERSITY POLICE SHOWING SCREEN WHERE BODYCAM FOOTAGE IS BEING SHOWN (SOUNDBITE) (Czech) PRAGUE POLICE DIRECTOR, PETR MATEJCEK, SAYING: "The police returned fire, naturally from short-range weapons because at that time some police officers were inside and those who were outside and saw the perpetrator, they were waiting for the moment when he became more or less encircled, because he was using the balcony to hide from us, so there was a use of weapons by the police. We can assume that the perpetrator dropped his weapon or threw it away. At this point we cannot confirm or dismiss this. We'll be assessing all the footage and other available material. But I think thanks to the fact that he got cornered and was only left with one weapon, called Brokovnice which doesn't have a far-range, and as my colleague has mentioned, we were getting closer to him, so he decided to commit suicide." MEDIA (SOUNDBITE) (Czech) PRAGUE POLICE DIRECTOR, PETR MATEJCEK, SAYING: (asked whether the same person who was behind university shooting act also committed murder in Klanovice) "Indicators absolutely point to that direction. Nevertheless, we're waiting on the results from ballistic tests. And you will be certainly informed about the certainty that this is one and the same perpetrator." MEDIA (SOUNDBITE) (Czech) PRAGUE POLICE DIRECTOR, PETR MATEJCEK, SAYING: "After committing the act, the police had to ensure a perimeter. Just so you know why individual rooms were cleared and searched. You know there was information that the perpetrator didn't act alone, that at first he had a woman with him, then there was information that he had another man and another woman with him, etc. We cannot underestimate this kind of information. We have to deem it as relevant even though at the end, through witness accounts and other investigations, it was proven that the perpetrator acted alone." MEDIA WORKING
- Embargoed: 5th January 2024 12:50
- Keywords: Czech police Prague university bodycam footage shooting in Prague special police units
- Location: PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC
- City: PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC
- Country: Czech Republic
- Topics: Crime/Law/Justice,Crime,Europe
- Reuters ID: LVA001779722122023RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:Czech police on Friday (December 22) talked the media through the results of their investigations so far into the
country's worst mass shooting after a student gunman killed 14 people at a university building on Thursday.
Pending further investigation, police said the perpetrator had likely got cornered with only a short-range weapon and had then committed suicide.
The police confirmed that they had also opened fire using short-range weapons to avoid injuring anyone still inside the university building.
Following initial rumours the perpetrator had an accomplice, police confirmed the attacker had acted alone.
Charles University cancelled all lectures and events on Friday a day after the shooting in the central European country of 10.9 million where over 300,000 people hold guns but mass shootings are rare.
The Health Ministry said 27 people were admitted or treated at six Prague hospitals, many with gunshot wounds. Out of those, 12 remained in serious condition, and at least one in critical condition.
Police said they believed the suspect had killed his father at home outside Prague before traveling to the capital but they were waiting for ballistic results to confirm this.
(Production: Anja Guder, Louisa Off, Malgorzata Wojtunik, Tanya Wood) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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