PRAGUE – ANO Member of Parliament John Richter has criticized the police and faculty administration for the manner in which they interacted with victims of the shooting at Charles University's Faculty of Arts. Richter said this in the security committee meeting of the council held today. Among the injured is his daughter, who is under the care of doctors at the University Hospital in Mottol, Prague. Interior Minister Vít Rakušan (STAN) promised an investigation and said he would encourage sensitive contact with victims and their loved ones. Charles University (UK) has not yet officially received a list of those injured in the shooting from the police or other elements of the rescue system, however university spokesman Vaclav Hejek told ČTK today.
Richter said in an emotional speech that the shooter, a student teacher, attacked his daughter three times during recess inside the classroom. According to the vice chancellor, the young woman was later found lying in the classroom next to her dying friend. She complained that after giving first aid to her daughter, the police kept her in a transport bag on the sidewalk in front of the teacher for a while. She said her daughter was not taken to the hospital until an hour and 40 minutes after the attack.
It worried the MP that he left his contacts with the police officers who intervened at four different places, but no one contacted him and offered help. The day after the attack, police came only to question her daughter, whom she was supposed to be offering psychological help to, and were only interested in the shooter's identity, Richter said. He did not even get information about where his daughter's personal belongings had gone. “No one from the faculty has contacted me,” the MP added.
According to Hejek, the university has not yet received a list of the injured from police or rescue system elements, although it has requested it, according to a spokesperson. According to him, the police are referring to the protection of personal data of the injured. “Previously, the university was only provided with a list of victims. The UK was able to find the names of injured academics on its own,” Hejek wrote. According to him, the university prepared letters a week ago on behalf of the dean and rector that the police interventions are gradually being handed over to the families of the injured. They have access to available support and help, Hejek wrote.
“We feel it is important to emphasize in public that the UK administration and the UK FF administration continue to invite families of injured and survivors to contact the UK and the UK FF. It is within their power to link to published and available and regularly publicized contacts,” the spokesperson said. said. Both the university and faculty still offer psychological support and assistance, information about which is available Website.
After the gunman committed suicide, the police said they had to first check whether the building was safe and whether it contained an explosive device. Only then can the injured be rescued and allowed inside. X on social media today She wrote“Not even the protection of personal data prevents us from helping”. After the tragedy at the university, more than 190 specialists from the police, firefighters, rescue services and the Czech Red Cross were involved in intervention and psychological care. “It helped 1,685 people,” he said. He emphasized that first aid is part of police training, especially in the field of tactical medicine. “We learn to provide it in acute trauma or emergency situations, among other things, and our lecturers also go abroad for training,” police said.
According to some reports, the police knew that the shooter was mentally ill and dangerous, ANO MP Jiri Masek told the committee meeting. He paused at the fact that the police had not cleared or secured all the faculty buildings in Prague. Prague police director Peter Madjek defended himself, saying police had information that the shooter wanted to kill himself. “We really worked on him being a little man who goes to Prague to kill himself,” he said. He drew attention to various reports about the shooter's appearance and the fact that no one had seen him at the scene of the shooting when the first patrol arrived.
Matějček also drew attention to the fact that even after the perpetrator was neutralized in the editorial board, it was not certain whether he had an accomplice. Also, he said, during the intervention, the police got information about two more locations where the shooting was to take place. In one case, it was later discovered that two foreigners had been shot dead as they got off the tram in Karlovy Vary, from where they returned to Palach Square, where they received help. The head of the Prague police also told deputies that the faculty was headed by a rank-and-file patrol, which was looking for a person with suicidal intent. “When we started to intervene, I had 264 police officers at the place. Later I ordered 226 more people there,” he said. He believes the police did the best they could at the time.
The Prague public prosecutor's office has reserved information about the investigation. The supervising attorney said today that due to the threat of criminal proceedings, he could not comment on the details of the act and the actions of the perpetrator. “I was at the scene myself, I saw the course of the incident and I must say the way the police worked was excellent,” he said.
The right to bear arms is subject to legal conditions
The right to acquire, possess and bear arms under the conditions prescribed by law will also be protected in the new law. Today, the House Committee on Defense backed nearly the only congressional amendment to the new gun law. He decided this despite objections from the Home Ministry and the government's Legislative Council. The House of Representatives must approve the provision at a meeting beginning next week.
No additional changes to the law have been proposed by any of the representatives since the December shooting at Charles University's art faculty, in which a student killed 14 and shot himself. On Wednesday, members of the lower parliamentary chamber agreed with Interior Minister Vít Rakušan (STAN) to try to prepare a partial amendment to the current law, for example, requiring arms dealers to report suspicious transactions before 2026. When the new law comes into effect, modernization of the Central Arms Registry and its integration with other registries will come into effect.
The Austrian reminded that the new law should reduce the period for formal review of the medical fitness of gun owners from ten to five years, or that the police have the option to order this examination at any time. Attending physicians will in future be required to access a central registry of firearms and verify that their patient holds a firearms license. According to the new regulation, a doctor who finds that a patient is suffering from an illness, disability or condition limiting his medical capacity must report this fact to the police without delay.
A partial amendment could introduce a mandatory specialized psychological test for new gun license applicants this year, or the government could decide to do so based on authorization under the new law. Applicable law does not require a psychological evaluation, only documentation of the applicant's medical competence. A general practitioner who certifies this ability can only request an opinion from a psychologist.
The law should give a public authority the ability to seize weapons from their owners if a security risk is identified, such as threats on social networks. The opposition fears abuse, according to Austria, and the police must justify keeping the weapon in custody.
The new law would allow only gun license holders to buy the Flaubert-type weapon, which opposition MPs say could lead to the demise of their Czech manufacturers. The group does not support an attempt to maintain a special regime for so-called flauberts, which, according to Milena Pacovska of the Interior Ministry, would not comply with the European Weapons Directive.
In the future, the law should ensure that paper arms or licenses replace electronic authorizations for the use of arms in the Central Arms Registry. The standard provides various options for how authentication can be demonstrated. Apart from the electronic route, it also leaves more conservative options, such as issuing firearms certificates at public administrative contact points. It also eliminates local jurisdiction, so gun owners no longer have to deal with matters only in their permanent residence.
Innovations include introducing another type of weapon or simplifying the structure of weapons authorizations. Two types of firearm licenses from the current five groups of firearm licenses and three groups out of the current ten groups of firearm licenses are to be retained.
