Meet David Kozak – Prague shooting suspect who killed 14 at Charles University
The assailant responsible for the tragic shooting at Charles University in downtown Prague on Thursday, December 21, has been identified as 24-year-old student David Kozak.
Reports indicate that Kozak, who was later “eliminated” by the police, carried out the attack at the Faculty of Arts, where he was a student, killing 14 people and injuring 25 others.
The shooter, believed to have no connection to extremist ideologies or groups, had earlier killed his father in his hometown near Prague.
Authorities revealed that Kozak, intending to take his own life, was incapacitated at the scene. The circumstances of his death, whether by suicide or during a confrontation with the police, remain unclear.
Earlier in December, Kozak is suspected of killing another man and his two-month-old daughter in the east of Prague.
Described as an excellent student with no criminal record, Kozak pursued a bachelor’s degree in history and European studies and was working on obtaining a master’s degree at the time of the shooting.
Though the motive behind the crime remains unclear, disturbing final messages on social media suggested Kozak contemplated massacres and mass shootings in the days leading up to the incident.
One post indicated his desire for school shootings and suicide, expressing a long-standing desire to kill.
https://www.facebook.com/61554360188233/videos/3484214735225939/
Kozak had created a Telegram channel where he shared his chilling thoughts and expressed dislike for everyone.
His posts revealed admiration for past school shooters, including Alina Afanaskina and Ilnaz Galyaviev.
Afanaskina, a Russian schoolgirl, committed a school shooting in December 2023, while Galyaviev carried out a mass shooting in Kazan, Russia, in 2021.
Following the tragic incident, Charles University students took refuge in classrooms, and the Czech Republic declared Saturday a national day of mourning for the 14 lives lost in what is described as the worst mass shooting in the country.
