An apparently mentally disturbed gunman burst into a restaurant in a quiet eastern Czech town Tuesday, shooting dead eight people before turning a gun on himself, officials said.
The interior minister ruled out terrorism as a motive for the bloody rampage at the "Friendship" restaurant in the town of Uhersky Brod by a gumnan in his 60s.
With tension high across Europe following deadly attacks in Paris and in Copenhagen in the last weeks, panicked diners fled through a back door as some two dozen shots rang out.
Nerves are on edge after Islamist attacks in the French capital in January left 17 people dead and two people lost their lives in twin shootings in the Danish capital earlier this month.
"According to the available information, this was not a terrorist attack, but one carried out by an unbalanced individual," Interior Minister Milan Chovanec said on Twitter.
Mayor Patrik Kuncar said the assailant, a town resident in his 60s, was carrying two weapons and fired off 25 shots.
Police said several people were wounded, including a woman hospitalised in a critical condition after being shot in the chest.
Private television station Prima said he had called its crime hotline to announce his plans.
Prima journalists immediately informed police of the threat.
"He introduced himself, and he told me to send reporters to Uhersky Brod," Prima TV reporter Pavel Lebdusko told the Dnes news website.
"He told me he was being harassed by many people and that officials were not taking action. He said this is why he would use arms to deal with the situation himself."
'I'm rattled'
Mayor Kuncar said the gunman burst in around 1 pm as about 20 customers were inside the town centre restaurant.
"The shooter ended up turning the weapon on himself," Kuncar said, quoting police sources.
Police threw a security perimeter around the restaurant.
"A stranger entered the restaurant, pulled out a weapon and began to shoot people," restaurant owner Pavel Karlik.
"I fled through the back door. Clients called the police immediately."
The usually sleepy town of about 18,000 people was in shock over the bloodshed.
"I was calmly drinking a beer in the restaurant. Then suddenly there was gunfire. Staff quickly opened a back door and I fled," an unnamed witness told Dnes.
"I never would have imagined something like this happening here, in a restaurant that I know well," Mayor Kuncar told state television Ceska Televize (CT). "Until now, we had only minor incidents, like punch-ups at the disco."
Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka and President Milos Zeman sent condolences to the victims' families. Interior Minister Chovanec was on the scene along with the national police chief to run the investigation.
The assailant's wife, who refused to cooperate with investigators, barricaded herself in the couple's apartment, CT reported.
AFP
Wed Feb 25 2015
"A policeman blocks a street of Uhersky Brod, Czech Republic, on February 24, 2015 after an apparently unstable armed man bursted into a restaurant in the town and killed eight people before reportedly committing suicide - AFP photo
Filem Lee Chong Wei satukan Tun M, Azmin
Kedua-duanya ketika itu mempunyai beberapa isu berkenaan darjah kebesaran Dr Mahathir ditarik balik dan gesaan Azmin dilantik menjadi PM.
Android akan tambah ciri kenal pasti kejadian ragut, kunci peranti
Menerusi kemas kini terbaharu, peranti Android akan dapat mengenal pasti telefon sekiranya diragut perompak dan mengunci akses.
UPM hasilkan gel tenaga dari kurma untuk ahli sukan dan aktiviti lasak
Pasukan penyelidik menghasilkan formulasi gel tenaga baharu menggabungkan bahan-bahan berkhasiat atau superfood dalam satu paket kecil.
Buku Syed Saddiq singkap ada gerakan cadang lantik Azmin Ali jadi PM pada 2018
Beliau yang pada ketika itu pegawai kepada Dr Mahathir cuba menjadi orang tengah untuk mendamaikan kedua-dua pemimpin tersebut.
Piala Belia: Melaka FA, Sri Pahang FC berdamai
Pihak Persatuan Bola Sepak Melaka dan pengurus pasukan telah dipanggil polis dan sehingga kini, tiada sebarang laporan polis dibuat.
Pesawat Garuda Indonesia lakukan pendaratan cemas selepas enjin terbakar
Pesawat yang membawa 450 penumpang dan 18 anak kapal termasuk jemaah haji baru saja berlepas dari Makassar menuju Arab Saudi.
Pengguna iOS 17.5 dapati foto lama dipadam muncul kembali
Mereka terkejut melihat gambar yang telah bertahun dipadam, tiba-tiba muncul sebagai gambar yang baru dimuat naik ke iCloud.
#AWANIByte: Huawei perkenal inovasi terbaharunya WATCH FIT 3 dan MateBook X Pro
Huawei dengan bangga memperkenalkan dua produk revolusioner iaitu HUAWEI WATCH FIT 3 dan HUAWEI MateBook X Pro 2024, menandakan lembaran baharu dalam gabungan fesyen dan teknologi dalam pasaran boleh pakai.
Enam lelaki termasuk empat warga asing ditahan miliki syabu
Enam lelaki termasuk empat warga asing ditahan bersama 5,203 gram dadah jenis syabu di Serembah, Ahad lepas.
Konsortium umum tawaran bersyarat bagi MAHB
Gateway Development Alliance dan para pemegang sahamnya (secara bersama dikenali sebagai Konsortium) mengumumkan tawaran sukarela prasyarat bagi mengambil alih semua saham dalam Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad (MAHB) yang belum dimiliki Konsortium itu, pada harga tawaran sebanyak RM11.00 bagi setiap saham.