Prague police say several dead in university shooting, gunman 'eliminated'
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Transcript
00:00 Well, about an hour ago, there were initial reports that there was a shooting happening
00:04 at a Charles University faculty in the center of Prague.
00:09 It's the Faculty of Arts, and it's right in the very center of Prague.
00:14 And within minutes, there were further reports that the police had blocked off the whole
00:20 area, that people were being told to stay indoors.
00:23 There were also reports that people were seen fleeing from the main building of the Faculty
00:30 of Arts, where this was all going on.
00:33 And then there were further reports that there was an armed man photographed on the roof
00:38 of the faculty.
00:41 And since then, as you reported, the armed man evidently has been shot dead.
00:48 And you mentioned this a little bit, that this is in the center of Prague.
00:52 But just give us a bit more details.
00:54 I mean, we imagine students are in that area.
00:58 Are you still with us, Ian?
01:00 Yes, sorry, sorry.
01:01 I was just saying, if you could give us a bit more about the neighborhood itself and
01:07 what your understanding is as to the kind of people who might be there.
01:11 If anybody has been to Prague, it's very near the Old Town Square.
01:14 It's about 500 meters or perhaps one kilometer from the Old Town Square, which currently
01:20 has a huge Christmas market on it.
01:22 And of course, it's one of the most visited places in Prague.
01:26 The area where it happened, the actual square where it happened, is quite busy also.
01:30 There's lots of trams going by there and lots of traffic.
01:34 It was closed to traffic and trams for a while.
01:36 So trams were diverted while all of this was going on.
01:41 I spoke earlier to my wife, who is also a student at Charles University, and she said
01:46 that the level of security at the Faculty of Arts, where she also goes sometimes, is
01:52 quite low.
01:54 And she said it was concerning.
01:55 She even said to me before today that it was noticeably low security there.
02:01 And now we've seen this incident today.
02:04 So far, they've said that there are a number of dead and perhaps a high number of injuries,
02:10 but they aren't revealing any more.
02:11 What they did say also was that there was believed to be only one assailant and that
02:16 assailant has been eliminated.
02:19 Really pleased to hear your wife is doing all right, Ian.
02:21 As you and I are talking, we're showing our viewers now live images from Prague University,
02:27 people there being evacuated by the police.
02:31 And I imagine, but correct me if I'm wrong, that attacks like this in the Czech capital
02:37 are really rather rare.
02:39 Extremely rare.
02:40 And I would not be surprised if this turns out to be one of the worst, if not the worst
02:45 events of its kind ever in this country.
02:48 Guns are allowed here.
02:50 You often see people carrying guns, but the number of shootings here is extremely low.
02:56 And the kind of US-style attacks that we've often heard about, unfortunately, have never
03:01 really come here.
03:03 But this is something new.
03:05 Of course, it could be just the work of one deranged individual, but it is a new development
03:13 here and something that for many Czechs will be deeply shocking.