Displaying items by tag: gunman

A gunman has killed at least 14 people and injured another 25 at a university in the historic city centre of Prague. It was the deadliest attack in modern Czech history. Staff and students barricaded themselves in rooms during the attack; videos showed some people jumping to safety from the top of the building, and many fleeing the area in panic. Police say the 24-year-old gunman was ‘eliminated’ following the shootings. Prime minister Petr Fiala said he had cancelled upcoming engagements in light of the tragic events. The gunman, a student at the university, was from a village 13 miles outside Prague. His father had been found dead earlier in the day. The gunman's motives were not immediately known. He legally owned multiple firearms: the Czech Republic has the most permissive gun laws in the EU.

John Earnest walked into a California synagogue carrying a semiautomatic rifle. Rabbi Goldstein was preparing for the day’s prayer and heard gunshots. He found himself staring down the barrel of a gun. Earnest had just shot someone in the foyer. ‘I have a fraction of a second to decide what to do’, he recounted. ‘Do I hide? The gun is pointing at me. Do I think about others?’ His mind raced. When he turned to herd the children to safety the gunman fired at him, blowing off his fingers. His granddaughter cried, ‘Grandpa, why are you bleeding?’ The gunman fired into a side room full of people but only two were slightly wounded. As the rabbi turned back, the gunman’s rifle jammed. Two congregation members chased him out of the building. A short time later, he inexplicably phoned 911 and reported the shooting.