Czech Interior Minister Vit Rakusan (middle) and Prague Police Chief Martin Vondrasek (left) communicate to the media after a mass capturing in downtown Prague on Thursday.

Petr David Josek/AP

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Petr David Josek/AP

Czech Interior Minister Vit Rakusan (middle) and Prague Police Chief Martin Vondrasek (left) communicate to the media after a mass capturing in downtown Prague on Thursday.

Petr David Josek/AP

PRAGUE — A scholar opened fireplace Thursday at a college in Prague, killing at the least 14 individuals, officers mentioned, and injuring greater than 20 within the Czech Republic’s worst mass capturing.

The bloodshed came about within the philosophy division constructing of Charles University, the place the shooter was a scholar, Prague Police Chief Martin Vondrasek mentioned. The gunman additionally died, authorities mentioned. His title has not been launched.

Vondrasek mentioned within the night that 14 individuals had died and 25 have been injured, after earlier reporting that 15 had died and 24 have been damage. He did not clarify the change. Authorities warned that the dying toll may rise.

Police gave no particulars in regards to the victims or a attainable motive for the capturing on the constructing situated close to the Vltava River in Jan Palach Square. Czech Interior Minister Vit Rakusan mentioned investigators don’t suspect a hyperlink to any extremist ideology or teams.

Vondrasek mentioned police imagine the gunman killed his father earlier Thursday in his hometown of Hostoun, simply west of Prague, and that he had additionally been planning to kill himself. He did not elaborate.

Later Thursday, Vondrasek mentioned that primarily based on a search of his residence, the gunman was additionally suspected within the killing of one other man and his 2-month-old daughter Dec. 15, within the east of Prague.

The chief described the shooter as a superb scholar with no legal report, however did not present every other data.

An ambulance drives in the direction of the constructing of Philosophical Faculty of Charles University in downtown Prague on Thursday after a lethal capturing.

Petr David Josek/AP

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Petr David Josek/AP

An ambulance drives in the direction of the constructing of Philosophical Faculty of Charles University in downtown Prague on Thursday after a lethal capturing.

Petr David Josek/AP

The gunman suffered “devastating injuries” however it wasn’t clear if he killed himself or was shot to dying in an change of gunfire with officers, Vondrasek mentioned, including that there was “nothing to suggest that he had an accomplice.”

The shooter legally owned a number of weapons — police mentioned he was closely armed Thursday and was carrying a variety of ammunition — and that what he did was “well thought out, a horrible act,” Vondrasek mentioned.

University authorities mentioned they’d tighten safety in college buildings with quick impact.

“We mourn the loss of life of members of our university community, express our deepest condolences to all the bereaved and our thoughts are with all those affected by the tragedy,” Charles University mentioned in a press release.

The constructing the place the capturing came about is close to the Vltava River in Jan Palach Square, a busy vacationer space in Prague’s Old Town. It is only a few minutes’ stroll from the picturesque Old Town Square, a serious vacationer attraction the place a preferred Christmas market attracts 1000’s of holiday makers.

The authorities shortly sought to quell issues that the bloodbath was again by international pursuits.

“There’s no indication that it has anything to do with international terrorism,” Rakusan mentioned.

“It’s a horrible crime, something the Czech Republic has never experienced,” he mentioned.

Pavel Nedoma, the director of the close by Rudolfinum Gallery, mentioned he watched from a window as an individual standing on a balcony of the constructing fired a gun.

Authorities evacuated everybody from the constructing and police mentioned they have been nonetheless looking the realm, together with the balcony, for explosives.

The constructing types a part of the sq. and faces a bridge throughout the river with a view of Prague Castle, the seat of the Czech presidency. President Petr Pavel mentioned he was “shocked” by what occurred and supplied his condolences to the family of the victims, as did leaders of Germany, France and Slovakia, the European Union and Israel.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre despatched a message of condolence.

“The president and the first lady are praying for the families who lost loved ones and everyone else who has been affected by this senseless act of violence,” Jean-Pierre mentioned. “On behalf of the United States, we send our condolences and also wish the survivors of this tragic event a speedy recovery.”

The Czech authorities deliberate to fulfill later Thursday for an emergency session to debate the capturing.

Previously, the nation’s worst mass capturing was in 2015, when a gunman opened fireplace within the southeastern city of Uhersky Brod, killing eight earlier than fatally capturing himself.

On Thursday, the place vacationers, college students and others would usually be having fun with the view of the long-lasting monument, chaos and terror as a substitute took maintain. Police autos and ambulances sped throughout the bridge with their sirens wailing. Officers sealed off the empty sq..

Some video footage confirmed individuals being evacuated from the constructing and others attempting to cover behind a wall.

Ivo Havranek, a diving teacher, mentioned he was close to the constructing when he heard a shot ring out, however he did not fairly imagine that was what he had heard.

“Only at the moment when I saw the fully equipped riot police with bulletproof vests and shields, it looked to me that I had found myself in a movie,” Havranek mentioned. “But it was obvious that nobody was shooting a movie.”