At least 14 people were killed and dozens more were injured in a mass shooting Thursday afternoon at a university in central Prague, Czech authorities said.
The shooter was a student at the school, Charles University, according to a spokesman from the Czech Ministry of the Interior. The police said there was no indication the shooter, who has not been named, had accomplices or was connected to a terrorist organization.
Police also suspect the shooter of killing his father about two hours before he traveled to Charles University, the spokesman said. The police identified the man’s son as a suspect in his death and determined he had a class at 2 p.m. . . .
Officers responded and police found the shooter dead at 3:20 p.m., the spokesman said. It couldn’t be immediately determined if he died from a self-inflicted wound or police gunfire. . . .
Gareth Vipers and Ginger Adams Otis, “Shooting at Prague University Leaves at Least 14 Dead, Dozens Injured,” Wall Street Journal, December 21, 2023.
So much for the claim that mass public “shootings are a uniquely American phenomenon.” Our point here is nothing new, as we have been making this point for years. Here is the data for the US compared to the rest of the world. Here is the data broken down country by country.
Look at this on a per capita rate. The Czech Republic had 10.5 million people in 2023, and the United States had 340 million, 32.4 times more. In the United States since 2000, there have been eight K-12 school and three universities (and one of those occurred at a cafe near the University of Washington). If you adjust for population, the Czech Republic would have had the equivalent of over 32 attacks.
The Czech Republic has had three mass public shootings since 2015 (Uherský Brod shooting (eight murdered), Ostrava hospital shooting (six murdered), and the Charles University Shooting), while the US has had 49 shootings. Three times 32.4 would imply that the Czech Republic adjusted for population would have had 97 attacks, which is more than the 93 that the US has had since 2000.
United States School Shootings
| Year | Month | Day | State | City | Attacker Name | Location | Summary |
| 1998 | 3 | 24 | Arkansas | Jonesboro | Mitchell Scott Johnson; Andrew Douglas Golden | School | Mitchell Scott Johnson, 13, and Andrew Douglas Golden, 11, two juveniles, ambushed students and teachers as they left the school; they were apprehended by police at the scene. |
| 1999 | 4 | 20 | Colorado | Columbine | Eric Harris; Dylan Klebold | School | Eric Harris, 18, and Dylan Klebold, 17, opened fire throughout Columbine High School before committing suicide. |
| 2006 | 10 | 2 | Pennsylvania | Nickel Mines | Charles Carl Roberts IV | School | Charles Carl Roberts, 32, shot 10 young girls in a one-room schoolhouse in Bart Township, killing 5, before taking his own life. |
| 2007 | 4 | 16 | Virginia | Blacksburg | Seung-Hui Cho | School | Virginia Tech student Seung-Hui Cho, 23, opened fire on his school’s campus before committing suicide. |