(22 Dec 2023)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Prague, Czech Republic - 22 December 2023
1. SOUNDBITE (Czech) Tomas Rektor, psychologist:
"I think the system has worked very well, both for police intervention and for the subsequent assistance. We see that it takes very seriously the trauma that people have experienced and the offer to help from both the system and the individual people is great."
2. Close of Rektor's hands typing
3. Mid of Rektor in his office
4. Close of awards
5. SOUNDBITE (Czech) Tomas Rektor, psychologist:
"I believe we are still one of the safest countries because as far as we know now it was an isolated act. Unlike what we see happening in Europe, these are not isolated extremists from one direction or the other, but it was one particular individual. Initially we might live in mistrust and I wonder what will happen next. It may make us more wary of anything foreign and incomprehensible, or it may increase our empathy towards people who have difficult things happening to them. But, yes, in the first place, it is clear that there will be considerable uncertainty."
++ENDS ON SOUNDBITE++
STORYLINE:
A Czech psychologist said on Friday he believed that his country was "still one of the safest countries" because the mass shooting in Prague appeared to be an isolated incident.
A student opened fire on Thursday at a university in the Czech capital, killing at least 14 people, officials said, and injuring more than 20 in the country's worst mass shooting.
Czech psychologist Tomas Rektor said "I believe we are still one of the safest countries because as far as we know now it was an isolated act. Unlike what we see happening in Europe, these are not isolated extremists from one direction or the other, but it was one particular individual."
He added that "it may make us more wary of anything foreign and incomprehensible, or it may increase our empathy towards people who have difficult things happening to them. But, yes, in the first place, it is clear that there will be considerable uncertainty."
The bloodshed took place in the philosophy department building of Charles University, where the shooter was a student, Prague Police Chief Martin Vondrasek said.
The gunman also died, authorities said. His name has not been released.
Vondrasek said that 14 people had died and 25 were injured, after earlier reporting that 15 had died and 24 were hurt. He didn't explain the change. Authorities warned that the death toll could rise.
Police gave no details about the victims or a possible motive for the shooting at the building located near the Vltava River in Jan Palach Square.
Czech Interior Minister Vit Rakusan said investigators do not suspect a link to any extremist ideology or groups.
Vondrasek said police believe the gunman killed his father earlier Thursday in his hometown of Hostoun, just west of Prague, and that he had also been planning to kill himself. He didn't elaborate.
Later Thursday, Vondrasek said that based on a search of his home, the gunman was also suspected in the killing of another man and his two-month-old daughter on December 15 in Prague.
The gunman suffered “devastating injuries” but it wasn't clear if he killed himself or was shot to death in an exchange of gunfire with officers, Vondrasek said, adding that there was "nothing to suggest that he had an accomplice.”
The shooter legally owned several guns — police said he was heavily armed Thursday and was carrying a lot of ammunition — and that what he did was “well thought out, a horrible act,” Vondrasek said.
AP video by Jan Gebert
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