10 people killed in mass shooting in downtown Czech Republic’s Prague

Prague, December 21

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A mass shooting in downtown Prague killed 10 people and injured about 30 others, and the person who opened fire also is dead, Czech police and the city’s rescue service said Thursday.

Police gave no details about the victims or the circumstances of the gunfire in the Czech Republic’s capital. They said officers were deployed due to a shooting at a school in Jan Palach Square.

The philosophy department of Charles University, which is located in the square, was evacuated, Prague Mayor Bohuslav Svoboda said.

The police department said the square has been sealed off. It urged people to leave the surrounding streets and stay inside.

Czech Interior Minister Vit Rakusan said no other assailant was at the scene, but he urged people to cooperate with police.

Prague’s rescue service confirmed that 11 people had died, including the shooter. It said about 30 others suffered various injuries, including nine with serious ones.

Pavel Nedoma, the director of Rudolfinum Gallery, which also is located in the square, told Czech public television he saw from a window a person who was shooting from a gun toward the nearby Manes bridge across the Vltava River.

Prime Minister Petr Fiala canceled his scheduled events and was heading for Prague. AP