STUDENT KILLS 15 PEOPLE IN PRAGUE UNIVERSITY

AT least 15 people on Thursday were killed when an armed student opened fire in a university building in downtown Prague.

Reports said the incident that sowed panic was one of the worst mass shootings of its kind in the Czech Republic.

The mass shooting took place in the Philosophy Department building of Charles University, where the shooter was a student, Prague Police Chief Martin Vondrasek said.

The name of the young suspect was not revealed for being a minor.

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 extemist ideology or groups.

Pavel Nedoma, the director of the nearby Rudolfinum Gallery, said he saw from a window a person standing on a balcony of the building and shooting a gun.

Police said they were still searching the area, including the balcony, for possible explosives. The building was evacuated, Prague Mayor Bohuslav Svoboda said.

The building forms part of the square and faces a bridge across the river with a view of Prague Castle, the seat of the Czech presidency.

President Petr Pavel said he was “shocked” by what happened and offered his condolences to the relatives of the victims.

An investigation is ongoing on what triggered the young suspect to do the mass shooting.