Czechs mourn Prague university shooting victims

Flags on public buildings flew at half mast Saturday and masses were scheduled across the Czech Republic for a day of national mourning after a deadly shooting at Prague’s Charles University — the worst in the country in decades.

A 24-year-old student opened fire at the Faculty of Arts on Thursday, killing 13 people and then himself. Another person died in hospital later on.

The gunfire sparked frantic scenes of students running from the attack.

The government asked Czechs to observe a minute’s silence at noon (1100 GMT) on Saturday and bells were due to ring on churches across the EU and NATO member country.

“It is hard to find the words to express condemnation on the one hand and, on the other, the pain and sorrow that our entire society is feeling in these days before Christmas,” said Prime Minister Petr Fiala.

Tearful students have lit thousands of candles at makeshift memorials at the Faculty of Arts and the university headquarters near by.

The school, families and friends have also started to publish the names of the victims, students and teachers alike.

“This is extremely cruel news for us all,” the Institute of Musicology said on Facebook after learning its 49-year-old director Lenka Hlavkova, a mother of two, was among the victims.

Other victims included Finnish literature expert Jan Dlask and student Lucie Spindlerova.

The gunman also wounded 25 people including three who were hit by bullets in the street as he fired from a balcony.

A Dutch national and two citizens of the United Arab Emirates were among the wounded.

Interior Minister Vit Rakusan said there was no link between the shooting and “international terrorism” and that the perpetrator acted on his own.