‘Irreplaceable’: Czechs mourn Prague university shooting victims
- Czechs observed a minute’s silence, with masses held across the country and thousands of candles lit at makeshift memorials at Prague’s Charles University
- Officials say the gunman appeared to have killed a man and his daughter earlier this month and was also inspired by a similar shooting in Russia
Church bells rang, flags flew at half-mast and masses were held across the Czech Republic on Saturday, a day of national mourning for the victims of a deadly shooting at Prague’s Charles University.
A heavily armed 24-year-old student killed 14 people and then himself at the Faculty of Arts on Thursday.
The lone gunman also wounded 24 others, including three foreigners.
The gunfire sparked frantic scenes of students running from the attacker, with some escaping onto the roof and then jumping onto a balcony below, while others clung to top-floor windows from ledges.
Daily life halted for a minute of silence for the victims in the EU and Nato member country at noon local time on Saturday.
“We are all trying to build heaven on earth, but the reality of life shows us that evil exists,” said Prague Archbishop Jan Graubner, celebrating a mass for the victims at the Gothic St Vitus Cathedral at Prague Castle.
Students attending the mass said top politicians were present, including President Petr Pavel, and that many in the cathedral were in tears.