Overnight, Czech police identified 13 of the 14 victims of the massacre at the Faculty of Letters and Philosophy of Charles University in Prague. Among the 25 injured there are 3 foreigners, but none of Italian nationality: the information was confirmed to ANSA by the Czech Foreign Ministry.
David Kozak may have more deaths on his conscience: the police believe he killed the father and perhaps also two people, a 32-year-old father and his two-month-old daughter, found dead a few days ago in the Katovice forest, just outside Prague. And meanwhile the Czech Republic, in the aftermath of the worst massacre in its history, mourns its dead: tomorrow will be a day of national mourning.
Police did not provide details about the possible motive for the shooting, which took place in the building located near the Vltava river in Jan Palach square, an area which is populated with tourists during these Christmas days. The Interior Minister, Vit Rakusan, assured that investigators do not suspect any link to ideologies or extremist groups.
A graduate and apparently even awarded for his thesis on 19th-century Polish history, the 24-year-old is described by those who knew him as a ‘nerd’, introverted but fascinated by weapons. He was found dead at the end of the hectic afternoon, heavily armed and with ammunition: it is not clear whether he committed suicide or died from the very serious wounds he sustained.
The plan was announced via Telegram: “I want to shoot up schools and maybe commit suicide”. On a channel opened recently and with few subscribers, Kozak wrote that the person who “helped” him was Alina Afanaskina, the 14-year-old who fired her father’s rifle at a school in Bryansk, Russia, on December 7, killing two classmates. before taking his own life. «I always wanted to kill, I thought I would go crazy in the future. I realized that it was much more profitable to make a massacre rather than serial murders. I sat. I waited. Dreamed. I wanted … But at a certain point Alina arrived, it was as if she had come to my aid from heaven just in time. I hate everyone, everyone hates me, I want to cause as much pain as possible.”
Yesterday afternoon, Kozak was due to attend a scheduled lecture, he traveled to Prague from his home village, Hostoun. The police received a tip and rushed to the scene, but it wasn’t enough. When the shooting started, the students locked themselves in the classrooms to escape it, pushing desks and chairs against the doors, hiding under the tables; the image of a group of young people perched under a protruding cornice, under a window at the top of the building, went around the world.
Of the more than 20 people injured, 10 are in serious condition. For tomorrow, Prime Minister Petr Fiala has invited everyone to a minute’s silence at midday when the bells will ring; Flags at government buildings will also fly at half-mast throughout Saturday.