University of Warsaw offers condolences on tragic events at Charles University in Prague

"Grievously shaken by the tragic events that affected the Academic Community of our partner Charles University in Prague, we are extending our deepest sympathy to the University Authorities," Rector of the University of Warsaw (UW) Prof. Alojzy Z. Nowak said behalf of the UW Community.

"We are sharing sincerest condolences with the Families and Friends of the innocent victims. Simultaneously, we are ensuring the support and solidarity from the University of Warsaw in this difficult time," the rector added.

Mayor of Warsaw Rafał Trzaskowski extended his condolences in a Facebook post.

"Horrific news from Prague. We send our friends from the sister city words of compassion due to the tragic events at the Charles University territory. We join in pain with the families of the victims. The City of Warsaw stands with You, friends! Varšava je s vámi, přátelé! (Warsaw is with you, friends!)" - he wrote.

Poland's President Andrzej Duda said in a post published on the X social media platform that the Polish people were joining in pain with all those who suffered as a result of the tragedy.

"On the hands of the President of the Czech Republic Petr Pavel, I am offering condolences to the Families and Relatives of the Victims of the shooting at Charles University in Prague. I wish a quick recovery to those injured," Duda wrote.

A 24-year-old Czech student shot dead his father then killed 14 people and wounded 25 others at his Prague university on Thursday before possibly killing himself, police said, marking the country's worst-ever mass shooting.

The gunman is also suspected in the killings of another man and his two-month-old daughter who were found last week shot dead in woods in a village outside Prague, the city's police chief, Martin Vondrasek, said.

Authorities -- who discovered a large arsenal of weapons at a downtown Prague Charles University building -- were tipped off earlier in the day the man was likely heading to Prague from his town in the Kladno region outside the capital with intentions of taking his own life.

Shortly after that, the shooter's father was found dead.

Police evacuated a Faculty of Arts building where the shooter was due to attend a lecture, but then were called to the faculty's larger main building, arriving within minutes after reports of the shooting, Vondrasek said.

"We have very fresh unconfirmed information from an account on a social network that he was supposedly inspired by one terrorist attack in Russia in the autumn of this year," Vondrasek told reporters, adding the shooter was a legal holder of several firearms.

"It was a pre-mediated horrific act that started in the Kladno region and unfortunately ended here."

The gunman's death was likely a suicide but authorities are also investigating whether he may have been killed by police who returned fire, Vondrasek added. Police said he was a high-achieving student with no prior criminal record, and that he acted alone.

Police asked not to reveal the man's identity but his name reported by some Czech media matched a police search report.

Authorities sealed off the square and area adjacent to the faculty building, in a busy historical district down the hill from Prague Castle on a popular street leading to Old Town Square.

Media images showed students evacuating the building with their hands in the air, and others perched on a ledge near the roof trying to hide from the attacker while students barricaded classrooms with desks and chairs.

"We always thought that this was a thing that did not concern us. Now it turns out that, unfortunately, our world is also changing and the problem of the individual shooter is emerging here as well," Prague Mayor Bohuslav Svoboda told Czech Television.

The White House condemned the shooting and said the United States was ready to offer assistance. Leaders across Europe including France's Emmanuel Macron offered their support.

Prime Minister Petr Fiala cancelled a trip to the east of the country and the government held an emergency meeting attended by President Petr Pavel and the head of the country's counterintelligence service.