Czech police have ended their investigation into the tragic shooting last December at the Faculty of Arts of Prague’s Charles University, and they have shelved the case, the Prague Metropolitan Public Prosecutor’s Office announced on social media today. The attack claimed 15 lives, including the perpetrator’s.
The police are likely to comment on their conclusions next week, after delivering the resolution on the shelving of the case to all the victims, the prosecutor’s office wrote.
The man, who has also been linked by detectives to the murders in the Klanovice forest near Prague, and Hostoun, central Bohemia, committed suicide after shooting at students and teachers at the Faculty of Arts.
Last 21 December, 14 people lost their lives in the shooting at a faculty building in central Prague. Another 25 people were injured, some seriously. Police say the shooter was a 24-year-old student at the faculty, from the village of Hostoun near Kladno, where he killed his father before committing the mass murder. Police also linked the young man to the murder of a man and a two-month-old baby in the Klanovice forest on the outskirts of the capital, based on ballistics expertise.
The prosecutor’s office was not providing information while the matter was being investigated. This restriction has now been lifted, so the police will be able to comment directly on the case. The basic six-month deadline for closing the case would have expired on 20 June.
On Wednesday, the police said the injured parties can now access the complete criminal file on the shooting.
Alongside the police, the case was also investigated by the General Inspection of Security Forces (GIBS), which last week published its conclusion that the police could not have prevented the tragedy, had done the best they could, worked efficiently, and made logical decisions.
But the inspection chief Vit Hendrych said lessons could be learnt from the case for police activities to be made more efficient in the future. He mentioned communication, technological skills and equipment, including police arms that could be improved.
The shooting at Prague’s Faculty of Arts is the most tragic case of this kind in the history of the Czech Republic.
