Czech gunman David Kozak 'linked to murder of baby and father' days before Prague massacre that killed 14

22 December 2023, 10:33 | Updated: 22 December 2023, 11:10

The gunman who massacred 14 people in Prague may be linked to the killing of a newborn baby and a father.

Student David Kozak, 24, opened fire at Charles University on Thursday with a large rifle and optic, leaving another 25 injured - including 10 seriously - in the worst mass shooting in Czech history.

He had earlier killed his own father.

Crowds of people had to flee as he opened fire while others leapt from windows and clung to ledges on the edge of the building to escape him.

It has now emerged that detectives have possibly linked Kozak to two other murders last week - a baby and a father.

"We are working very seriously with the fact that the attacker from the Faculty of Philosophy is also responsible for the two victims from the end of last week in Klánovický les," police said, according to Czech media outlet iRozhlas.

"I personally spoke with the head of the Prague criminal investigators.

"They carried out a huge number of actions and it was not possible for anyone to find out the identity of the suspect by Thursday."

Police found a man and a newborn baby dead on Friday last week.

Kozak killed his own father just before he unleashed his massacre in Prague at about 3pm local time, then took his own life.

He had written on Telegram about how he wanted to carry out a school shooting and had been inspired by similar attacks in Russia.

Terrified students had to barricade themselves in rooms while others fled from the area with their hands up.

One man tried to shout "shoot here, you f***er!' to try and distract him as he picked off terrified people below.

A British dad was with his family in the square near the building.

"My daughter said, 'Dad, look up there, there's a guy on the roof'," he told The Sun.

"And all of a sudden it just went mental, it sounded like a load of firecrackers.

"I would have said about 30 people got shot. There was a guy lying dead on the right-hand side of the square. He was shot in the chest."

Lenka Hlávková, the director of the Institute of Music Science at the University's philosophy department, was among the victims.

Kozak continued shooting, appearing calm as he continued his spree. In footage, he can be seen watching two people flee and fire two shots at them.

Armed police swept on the five-storey building and ran to the roof of the university building when they realised he was firing from there.

They struggled to find the roof because the directions were unmarked, and the Kozak, realising police were closing in, took his own life.

Police continue to work to identify the injured to determine if any are tourists, given the city's popular Christmas markets.