Five minutes of terror: Astonishing bodycam footage shows Prague police race into university building, search corridors for gunman and treat wounded victims before finding killer’s body on the roof
Astonishing police bodycam footage shows officers storming a university building in Prague to search for a gunman who killed 14 people and treated injured victims before finding the killer dead on the roof.
The tense footage shows elite officers storming into Charles University's philosophy building one by one after being told that gunman David Kozak, 24, was shooting his victims from the balcony with his high-powered ZEV-30 rifle on the fourth floor.
The brave officers, armed with rifles and body armor, are seen running up the stairs and raising their weapons – knowing they could face the gunman at any moment.
The nerve-wracking footage shows elite officers searching the hallways for the gunman. For a few seconds they could not find the door leading to the fourth floor balcony from where Kozak shot his victims.
But eventually, with their hearts pounding, the officers burst through a door onto the balcony and images showed Kozak's body lying on the ground next to a pool of blood.
Police said Kozak, knowing he was surrounded by officers, committed suicide with a shotgun after throwing his long-range rifle off the balcony. They said: 'When we got close to him on the balcony, Kozak committed suicide.'
The brave officers, armed with rifles and body armor, sprint up the stairs and raise their weapons – knowing they could face the gunman at any moment.
The tense footage shows elite officers storming the Charles University philosophy building one by one after being told that gunman David Kozak, 24, was shooting his victims from the balcony with his high-powered ZEV-30 rifle on the fourth floor.
The officers burst through a door onto the balcony and images show Kozak's body lying on the ground next to a pool of blood.
Kozak killed fourteen people and injured another 25 – ten seriously – in the deadliest mass shooting in Czech history
He had killed 14 people and injured 25 others – ten seriously – in the Czech Republic's deadliest mass shooting in history.
Harrowing video shows other police officers discovering injured students in a classroom and desperately trying to stop their blood loss before evacuating them from the building.
The officers are seen donning medical gloves and administering first aid to the injured victims, one of whom is lying on the ground.
At one point we see police officers carrying an injured victim who had been wrapped in a foil blanket to keep them warm.
Inside the building, armed officers can be seen surrounding a door that was barricaded by terrified students and teachers who heard the gunshots and did not have time to flee.
The officers tore open the door and you can see them raising their weapons – not knowing at this point if there was more than one shooter – and yelling at those inside to raise their hands.
Once inside, there appear to be injured people lying on the ground, their bodies blurred in the images by police.
The end of the footage showed dozens of terrified students being led away from the university with their hands above their heads.
The nerve-wracking footage shows the elite officers scouring the hallways for the gunman and, for several seconds, unable to find the door leading to the fourth-floor balcony from where Kozak shot his victims.
Harrowing video shows other police officers discovering injured students in a classroom and desperately trying to stop their blood loss before evacuating them from the building
Inside the building, armed officers can be seen surrounding a door that was barricaded by terrified students and teachers who heard the gunshots and did not have time to flee.
The officers tore open the door and you can see them raising their weapons – not knowing at this point if there was more than one shooter – and yelling at those inside to raise their hands.
The end of the footage showed dozens of terrified students being led away from the university with their hands above their heads
Before Kozak launched the deadly rampage at the university, during which he was filmed taking shot after shot at his victims, the history student had killed his father and texted his girlfriend to say he was suicidal.
It has since emerged that police found a homemade bomb in the basement of Kozak's home, as well as his father's corpse. This was reported by a police source La Stampa the homemade device consisted of a 'cylinder, ammunition, pyrotechnic material and chemicals'.
'The basement looked like a bunker. The bottle was large and had several cables connected to it that led to other equipment. In my opinion it contained a system that would have caused an explosion,” said a source close to the investigation.
More details are also emerging about Kozak, with those who knew him describing him as an introverted history nerd who was fascinated by guns and hated the world. Kozak, a master's student in history at Charles University, had completed his bachelor's thesis on 19th century Polish history.
It comes as the first victim of the mass shooting has been identified as Lenka Hlávková, director of the Institute of Musicology of the university's philosophy department.
The Institute shared a photo of the mother-of-two as she confirmed her death in the 'vicious' attack.
Her colleagues said they were “utterly devastated” that Lenka, who had devoted her entire career to studying music history in the Czech Republic, had been “senselessly” killed.
A second victim was named Lucie Špindlerová, a proofreader for the Lidové Noviny newspaper. She would have been a first-year Czech sign language student.