A STUDENT who massacred 13 people in a horror gun rampage in Prague was reportedly obsessed with a Russian schoolgirl shooter.
David Kozak, 24, opened fire with a sniper rifle at a university in the Czech capital on Thursday afternoon - a week after allegedly murdering a dad and a newborn baby.
He has been described by neighbours as a "nerd" who was fascinated with weapons.
And Telegram posts appeared to reveal Kozak's chilling plans to "do a school shooting and possibly suicide" - inspired by a school shooting in Bryansk, western Russia, on December 7.
Alina Afanaskina, 14, shot a student and wounded five others before turning the gun on herself.
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“Alina Afanaskina helped me too much," Kozak, a Russian speaker, said in his Telegram messages.
"I always wanted to kill, I thought I would become a maniac in the future.
"I realised that it was much more profitable to do mass murders rather than serial ones. I sat. Waited. Dreamed.
"But Alina became the last point. It was as if she had come to my aid from heaven just in time."
He often posted about his "miserable life" and said he "always wanted to kill someone".
Police Chief Martin Vondrasek confirmed Kozak - a legal gun owner - went to Prague with a rifle in hand after being "inspired by a horrific event, a similar event, abroad".
And he had a "huge arsenal of weapons and ammunition", Vondrasek added.
According to the Dutch newspaper Volkskrant, Kozak may have been helped by his girlfriend - who is now said to be trying to flee abroad.
Prior to the horror shooting spree from the rooftop of his university, Kozak killed his own father in the village of Hostoun - 13 miles outside Prague.
Police also believe he killed a 32-year-old dad and his two-month-old baby in a "random" forest attack in Klanovice, Prague on December 15.
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Hundreds of cops combed the area after shooting - and investigators are now probing whether the two killing sprees could be linked.
Vondrasek told reporters: "We are working very seriously with the fact that the attacker... is also responsible for the two victims from the end of last week."
Cops discovered the body of Kozak's dad's at 12.45pm local time and then found Kozak's threats on Telegram.
Armed officers raced to Kozak's university building where he was due to attend a lecture at 2pm.
Police evacuated the building by 2.22pm, according to local media.
But at 2.59pm, reports emerged of shots being fired from the arts faculty in nearby Palach Square - an area popular with tourists and Christmas shoppers.
Panicked crowds were seen fleeing for their lives with their hands in the air during the shooting at Charles University.
Others were seen leaping from windows onto ledges as they tried to escape the worst mass shooting in the history of the Czech Republic.
Witnesses described seeing Kozak on a balcony and shooting towards a bridge.
At least 13 people were killed, Interior Minister Vít Rakušan said, and another 25 were injured, 10 of which were seriously wounded.
Cops also later found Kozak's body after he killed himself, bringing the total confirmed dead to 14.
All the victims were killed inside the university building, and some of them were the gunman's fellow students.
It's understood none of the victims are foreign nationals.
One of the victims has been identified as Lenka Hlávková, the director of the Institute of Music Science at Charles University.
The department said in a post on Facebook: "We express our deepest condolences to all the bereaved, especially to the family.
"It's extremely cruel news for all of us. Let's stay supporting each other."
On a horrifying day in Prague:
- Student David Kozak randomly killed victims from a university balcony
- Shocking video showed students cowering on a rooftop as the gunman opened fire
- Kozak is believed to have murdered his father in a nearby town before the shooting spree
- Other students were forced to balance on a high ledge as they hid from the gunman who prowled around on the roof of the five-storey building.
- Police found Kozak's body inside the university after he took his own life
- It is the worst mass shooting in the history of the Czech Republic
Police have identified the victims and are in contact with their families, Rakušan said.
Rakušan said the shooting isn't believed to be linked to international terrorism.
"We could have had many more victims if the police had not acted so quickly," he said.
Kozak had a degree in history and European studies and was focusing on the history of Poland in his master's degree.
Footage from the attack showed terrified staff and students barricaded themselves inside their classrooms with piles of chairs and tables.
Dan, a British policeman, was in the city for an annual Christmas market trip with his Slovakian wife and 25-year-old daughter.
He told The Sun: “We ran with our hands up as soon as the ‘crack, crack, crack’ of gunfire rang out.
“It was such an alien sound because we had been listening to carol singers and browsing stalls as the bullets started flying. We did not know if we were running towards the gunman, or away from danger.
“Three people were slain. They lay in pools of blood, where they had stood enjoying the festive scene.
“A guy to the right of me was shot across the chest. We were just lucky.
“It was like something out of a movie. It was total panic.”
Dan said he noticed a large police presence the previous evening and thinks that cops were already on the lookout for a possible shooter.
He said: “I think they had prior knowledge of a likely outrage. I saw terrible carnage and believe at least 30 people must be dead.”
British honeymoon couple Tom, 34, and Rachael Leese, 31, were having a drink in a nearby restaurant when the shooting started.
They lay in pools of blood, where they had stood enjoying the festive scene
Dan
Video producer Tom said a policeman rushed into the building and started “shouting loudly” in Czech.
He said: “I asked for it in English and he said there was an active shooter and to stay inside and stay down. The staff were very calm, turned all the lights off very quickly and urged us to stay calm.”
Joe Hyland, 18, of Truro, Cornwall, was on holiday with friends when he heard the gunshots.
He said: “We ran for cover in the metro after police shouted at everyone to run. It was very frightening.
“All of a sudden people started running. We didn’t know what was going on. We saw police going past us. They were shouting, ‘Run!’”
Charles University told staff to "stay put" and lock the doors after Kozak opened fire.
"Don't go anywhere, if you're in the offices, lock them and place furniture in front of the door, turn off the lights," an email to staff at the Philosophy Faculty said.
One student described "police officers with guns everywhere".
Prague's mayor Bohuslav Svoboda said he was "completely shocked" by the gun horror.
And Czech Republic's Prime Minister Petr Fiala said the "brutal attack affected our entire society".
"There is no justification for this horrendous act," he said.
The government has declared a national day of mourning on Saturday - with flags on official buildings to be flown at half-mast and people asked to observe a minute's silence at noon.
US President Joe Biden slammed the "senseless" shooting.
"My heart is with those who lost their lives in today's senseless shooting in Prague, those injured, and the Czech people," he said.
"Our authorities are in touch with Czech law enforcement, and we stand ready to offer additional support if needed."
Gun crime is relatively rare in the Czech Republic.
However in December 2019, a 42-year-old gunman killed six people at a hospital waiting room in the eastern Czech city of Ostrava before fleeing and fatally shooting himself, police said.
In 2015, a man fatally shot eight people and then killed himself at a restaurant in the town of Uhersky Brod.
