KILLER'S 'DRY RUN'
Student David Kozak, 24, ‘murdered dad & newborn baby’ one week before shooting dead 13 in university gun rampage
Petrified students barricaded themselves inside classrooms and said they were 'praying to make it out alive'
A STUDENT is believed to have shot dead a dad and newborn baby just one week before his murderous rampage.
Czech police say David Kozak, 24, last night gunned down 13 people and injured 25 after he opened fire with a sniper rifle at a university in Prague.
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Prior to the horror shooting spree from the rooftop of his university, Kozak killed his own father.
Panicked crowds were seen fleeing for their lives with their hands in the air during the shooting at Charles University in the Czech capital.
Others were seen leaping from windows onto ledges as they tried to escape.
At least 13 were killed by Kozak - who studied at the Institute of World History - as another 25 were injured, 10 of which were seriously wounded.
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The attack is the worst mass shooting in the history of the Czech Republic.
Cops then found the 24-year-old's body, after he is thought to have turned the gun on himself.
Police Chief Martin Vondrasek has now said officers believe Kozak was linked to two other murders last week - of a dad and baby.
Local media reported the top cop said at a press conference: "We are working very seriously with the fact that the attacker from the Faculty of Philosophy is also responsible for the two victims from the end of last week in Klánovický les.
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"I personally spoke with the head of the Prague criminal investigators.
"They carried out a huge number of actions and it was not possible for anyone to find out the identity of the suspect by Thursday."
The shooting was said to have unfolded last Friday, and police arrived to find a dead man and a newborn baby.
Today, the chief said Kozak went to Prague with his rifle in hand after being "inspired by a horrific event, a similar event, abroad".
Reports in local media said the 24-year-old kept a diary on Telegram where he allegedly wrote: "'I want to do a school shooting and possibly suicide.'"
On a horrifying day in Prague:
- Student David Kozak randomly killed victims from a university balcony
- Shocking video showed students cowering on a rooftop as the gunman opened fire
- Kozak is believed to have murdered his father in a nearby town before the shooting spree
- Other students were forced to balance on a high ledge as they hid from the gunman who prowled around on the roof of the five-storey building.
- Police found Kozak's body inside the university after he took his own life
- It is the worst mass shooting in the history of the Czech Republic
He is thought to have lived in a village 13miles outside Prague and was also a student at the university studying for a master's degree.
The shooting took place shortly after 3pm (2pm GMT) when a lone gunmen opened fire at the Faculty of Arts building in Jan Palach Square.
Footage from the attack showed terrified staff and students barricaded themselves inside their classrooms with piles of chairs and tables.
Dan, a British policeman, was in the city for an annual Christmas market trip with his Slovakian wife and 25-year-old daughter.
He told The Sun: “We ran with our hands up as soon as the ‘crack, crack, crack’ of gunfire rang out.
“It was such an alien sound because we had been listening to carol singers and browsing stalls as the bullets started flying. We did not know if we were running towards the gunman, or away from danger.
“Three people were slain. They lay in pools of blood, where they had stood enjoying the festive scene.
“A guy to the right of me was shot across the chest. We were just lucky.
“It was like something out of a movie. It was total panic.”
Dan said he noticed a large police presence the previous evening and thinks that cops were already on the lookout for a possible shooter.
He said: “I think they had prior knowledge of a likely outrage. I saw terrible carnage and believe at least 30 people must be dead.”
British honeymoon couple Tom, 34, and Rachael Leese, 31, were having a drink in a nearby restaurant when the shooting started.
Video producer Tom said a policeman rushed into the building and started “shouting loudly” in Czech.
He said: “I asked for it in English and he said there was an active shooter and to stay inside and stay down. The staff were very calm, turned all the lights off very quickly and urged us to stay calm.”
Joe Hyland, 18, of Truro, Cornwall, was on holiday with friends when he heard the gunshots.
He said: “We ran for cover in the metro after police shouted at everyone to run. It was very frightening.
“All of a sudden people started running. We didn’t know what was going on. We saw police going past us. They were shouting, ‘Run!’”
Up to 200 students were moved to safety and taken across the road away from the building.
The square, located about 500m from the historic Charles Bridge in downtown Prague, has been sealed off and cops have urged people to stay inside.
They are still searching the area, including the building's balconies, for possible explosives.
Vit Rakusan, the Czech minister of the interior, said the mass shooting isn't believed to be linked to international terrorism.
'DAD, LOOK THERE'S A GUY'
A Brit dad who was in the popular square at the time with his family said his daughter, 25, spotted the gunman lurking on the roof.
He told The Sun: "My daughter said, 'Dad, look up there, there's a guy on the roof'.
"And all of a sudden it just went mental, it sounded like a load of firecrackers.
";I would have said about 30 people got shot. There was a guy lying dead on the right-hand side of the square. He was shot in the chest.
"We just ran and we got to our AirBnB, which is four minutes away from the square.
"We're now trying to get an earlier flight back to Gatwick."
Charles University told staff to "stay put" and lock the doors.
"Don't go anywhere, if you're in the offices, lock them and place furniture in front of the door, turn off the lights," an email to staff at the Philosophy Faculty said.
One student described "police officers with guns everywhere".
They told : "They kicked us out of the school yelling, 'Hands up!'"
Another eyewitness said: "Some students were hiding on the walkway and someone fell from the roof."
'FIRED REPEATEDLY'
A witness inside the university building said the gunman was seen walking along the ledge of the roof.
Another student posted a photo of his classroom door barricaded with tables and chairs.
He said: "Currently stuck inside my classroom in Prague. Shooter is dead, but we are waiting to be evacuated.
"Praying to make it out alive. Locked the door before the shooter tried to open it."
Petr Nedoma, the director of a nearby gallery, told : "I saw a young man... who had a weapon in his hand, a machine gun, shooting towards the Mánes Bridge.
"He fired repeatedly."
Prague's mayor Bohuslav Svoboda said he was "completely shocked" by the attack.
"Please be careful. We will update as soon as we know more details," he told residents.
A newlywed couple from Surrey have told of the moment a police officer ordered them to stay down when they were caught up close to the carnage.
'STAY DOWN'
Tom Leese, 34, a video producer and his wife Rachael, 31, an account director, were on their honeymoon in Prague and visiting the Slivovitz Museum.
Mr Leese said: "A policeman came in and started shouting loudly in what I assume was Czech.
"I asked for it in English and he said there was an active shooter and to stay inside and stay down.
"The staff were very calm, turned all the lights off very quickly and urged us to stay calm, the restaurant was relatively quiet.
"The policeman left urgently and we stood in the corner of the restaurant."
The Czech police are also investigating a supposed bomb threat in the Municipal Library in Prague, according to multiple sources.
The main building has been evacuated and the nearby Valentinská Street has been closed.
Gun crime is relatively rare in the Czech Republic.
However in December 2019, a 42-year-old gunman killed six people at a hospital waiting room in the eastern Czech city of Ostrava before fleeing and fatally shooting himself, police said.
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In 2015, a man fatally shot eight people and then killed himself at a restaurant in the town of Uhersky Brod.
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