(Bloomberg) -- A mass shooting by a gunman at Prague's famed Charles University left more than 15 people dead on Thursday, including the assailant, in what a government official called the worst carnage of its kind in Czech history.
There's no evidence that the shooter, a 24-year-old man who killed himself at the end of the rampage, had links to international terrorism, Interior Minister Vit Rakusan told reporters. More than 15 people died in the incident, police chief Martin Vondrasek said.
“I want to assure the public that there is no immediate danger now,” he said after the gunfire at the university's Philosophical Faculty ended.
Czech officials didn't immediately suggest a motive for the shooting — a rare event in a country that limits access to firearms by requiring gun owners to pass written and practical tests as well as psychological screenings.
“A horrific act that has no precedent in the history of the Czech Republic,” Rakusan said.
Founded in 1348, the Charles University is one of the world's oldest. Prague, the Czech capital that was once behind the Iron Curtain, attracts millions of tourists every year.
Prime Minister Petr Fiala canceled plans to visits an eastern Czech region and headed back to Prague after the shooting, which happened three days before the Christmas Eve holiday.
--With assistance from Michael Ovaska.
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