The 2023 Prague shooting was the deadliest mass murder in the Czech Republic since its independence in 1993, claiming 14 lives at Charles University.
Key Facts
- Date
- 21 December 2023
- Perpetrator
- David Kozák, 24-year-old postgraduate student
- Killed (direct)
- 13 people
- Injured
- 25 people
- Additional indirect death
- 1 victim fell to death while fleeing
- Location
- Charles University Faculty of Arts, central Prague
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
David Kozák, a 24-year-old postgraduate student, was already among approximately 4,000 suspects in a double murder in Klánovice Forest six days prior. On the morning of the attack, he murdered his own father at the family home in Hostouň before travelling to Prague, suggesting a premeditated and escalating pattern of violence.
On 21 December 2023, Kozák opened fire inside Charles University's Faculty of Arts building in central Prague, killing 13 people and injuring 25 others. An additional victim died indirectly after falling while attempting to escape. Kozák subsequently died by suicide following an exchange of gunfire with police.
The attack became the deadliest mass murder in the Czech Republic since the country's independence in 1993, surpassing the 2020 Bohumín arson attack. Forensic evidence linked Kozák to the earlier Klánovice Forest double murder, closing that case. The shooting prompted national mourning and renewed debate on security at Czech educational institutions.