- Title: CZECH-SHOOTING/MORNING Czech town mourns victims of restaurant shooting
- Date: 25th February 2015
- Summary: UHERSKY BROD, CZECH REPUBLIC (FEBRUARY 25, 2015) (REUTERS) ****WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** UHERSKY BROD MAIN SQUARE WITH TOWN HALL WOMEN TALKING VARIOUS OF STREET IN FRONT OF SITE OF SHOOTING WOMAN SPEAKING TO POLICEMEN IN THE FRONT OF SITE DRUZBA RESTAURANT - SITE OF SHOOTING UHERSKY BROD RESIDENTS APPROACHING SITE/CANDLES PEOPLE LAYING CANDLES (SOUNDBITE) (Czec
- Embargoed: 12th March 2015 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Czech Republic
- Country: Czech Republic
- Topics: General
- Reuters ID: LVA5WHH9T7CRFLDYUBOM02X26SVS
- Story Text: Residents of Uhersky Brod mourned on Wednesday (February 25) victims of a shooting that left eight people dead on Tuesday (February 24).
Eight people were killed when a man entered a local restaurant and opened fire in the quiet eastern Czech town of 17,000, around 300 km. (180 miles) southeast of Prague. The man reportedly shot himself and was found dead at the scene.
Hundreds attended a memorial service held on Wednesday in front of the restaurant, with residents lighting candles for fellow members of their community killed in the shooting.
"He (one of the victims) was a really nice guy, my colleague used to work with him. He had been retired since last spring, he had been on a pension for not even a year," local resident Alena Kubanova said.
"We used to come here every Thursday. I know exactly the table, I don't even have to go there again. If it would have happened tomorrow, we would not be alive," she added.
Authorities said that the man who committed the shooting was aged 60 and believed to have been mentally unstable.
"This is a very tragic event. When you follow it on TV from somewhere abroad, you think it doesn't concern you. But such a tragedy can happen in any place around the world," another resident, Petr Pilavcik, said.
The town's mayor Patrik Kuncar laid flowers at the site and called the event "the darkest day in the history of our town."
Mass shootings are very rare in the Czech Republic, a country of 10.5 million. National police chief Tomas Tuhy said the incident was the worst on record. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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