Prague mass shooting: What do we know so far?

New details about the Prague mass shooting in which a gunman died have been released by police.

Officers have given a timeline of the suspect’s movements leading up to the mass shooting at a Charles University building in central Prague.

The body of the suspect – a 24-year-old student at the university named in Czech media as David K – was found within the building, according to police.

Alongside his body and the 14 people he killed, at least 25 others have also been wounded – with 10 seriously injured – officials have said.

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Earlier shooting

Police president Martin Vondrasek said officers received a report at 12.20pm on Thursday that a 24-year-old man from the village of Hostoun was travelling to Prague, having stated that he “wanted to take his own life”.

At 12.45pm, the body of a man, identified as the gunman’s father, was discovered at a property in the village – which is to the west of the Czech capital.

Czech media reported that the suspect had previously posted on social media site Telegram saying he “always wanted to kill”.

He is also reported to have posted about a school shooting in Russia earlier this year.

Mr Vondrasek said investigators were looking at whether the gunman had been “inspired” by a previous mass shooting.

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“We have very fresh unconfirmed information from an account on a social network that he was supposedly inspired by one terrorist attack in Russia in the autumn of this year,” Mr Vondrasek told reporters

He also said, based on a search of the suspect’s home, that the gunman was suspected in the killing of a man and his two-month-old daughter in the east of Prague earlier this month.

Building evacuated

Following the discovery of the father’s body, police ordered the evacuation of one of the university buildings, where the gunman was due to have a lecture at 2pm on Thursday.

According to Mr Vondrasek, the evacuation was completed at 2.22pm, and after this, police continued to search for the student.

However, at 2.59pm, gunshots were reported in another university building, the Charles University Faculty of Arts near Jan Palach Square.

According to the Czech interior minister, Vit Rakusan, armed police were at the scene within 12 minutes.

By 3.20pm, the shooter’s body was found, having suffered “devastating injuries”.

Police have not said if he was shot by armed officers or took his own life.

What do we know about the gunman?

The gunman’s name has not been released by police – though he has been named in Czech media as David K.

Though police have not revealed the name, the one reported by Czech media matches a police search report.

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Police have described the suspect as a high-achieving student with no prior criminal record.

They say he was the legal owner of several guns.

Police say the gunman acted alone, while Mr Rakusan said investigators do not suspect a link to any extremist ideology or groups.

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