World
Gunman kills 14 in unprecedented attack at Prague university
A 24-year-old Czech student shot dead his father, then killed 14 people and wounded 25 others at his Prague university on Thursday before possibly killing himself, police said, marking the country’s worst-ever mass shooting.
The government declared a day of mourning across the central European country for Dec. 23 to remember the victims, decided at a special cabinet meeting with President Petr Pavel, Reuters reported.
“I would express my great sadness along with helpless anger at the unnecessary loss of so many young lives,” Pavel said.
“I would like to express my sincere condolences to all relatives of the victims, to all who were at this tragic incident, the most tragic in the history of the Czech Republic.”
Police — who discovered a large arsenal of weapons at the downtown Prague Charles University building where the shooting took place — were tipped off earlier in the day the suspect was likely heading to Prague from his town in the Kladno region outside the capital with intentions of taking his own life.
Shortly after that, the shooter’s father was found dead.
Police evacuated a Faculty of Arts building where the shooter was due to attend a lecture, but then were called to the faculty’s larger main building, arriving within minutes after reports of the shooting, Police President Martin Vondrasek said.
Police had “unconfirmed information from an account on a social network that he was supposedly inspired by one terrorist attack in Russia in the autumn of this year,” Vondrasek told reporters, adding the shooter was a legal holder of several firearms.
“It was a pre-mediated horrific act that started in the Kladno region and unfortunately ended here.”
The gunman is also suspected in the killings of another man and his two-month-old daughter who were found last week shot dead in woods in a village outside Prague, Vondrasek said.
The gunman’s death was likely a suicide but authorities are also investigating whether he may have been killed by police who returned fire, Vondrasek added.
Police said he was a high-achieving student with no prior criminal record and that he acted alone.
Police asked not to reveal the man’s identity but his name reported by some Czech media matched a police search report.
Interior Minister Vit Rakusan said the shooting had no connection to international terrorism.
World
Trump says United States will get uranium from Iran
One of Trump’s central objectives in launching military strikes against Iran was to ensure Tehran does not develop a nuclear weapon.
President Donald Trump said on Wednesday the United States would get enriched uranium from Iran, as the two countries struggle to reach an agreement on ending the Gulf war, Reuters reported.
“We’re going to get it,” Trump told a reporter as he left a White House event.
One of Trump’s central objectives in launching military strikes against Iran was to ensure Tehran does not develop a nuclear weapon. Iran has yet to hand over more than 900 pounds (408 kg) of highly enriched uranium.
World
Trump says Iran “should wave the white flag of surrender”
When asked what Iran would need to do to violate the ceasefire, Trump said: “Well, you’ll find out, because I’ll let you know … They know what not to do.”
President Donald Trump on Tuesday dismissed Iran’s military capability and said Tehran “should wave the white flag of surrender” but is too proud to do so, Reuters reported.
Trump told reporters in the Oval Office that Iran’s military has been reduced to firing “peashooters” and that Tehran privately wants to make a deal despite its public sabre-rattling.
“They play games, but let me just tell you, they want to make a deal. And who wouldn’t, when your military is totally gone?” he said.
Trump heaped praise on the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports in the region. “It’s like a piece of steel. Nobody’s going to challenge the blockade. And I think it’s working out very well,” he said, read the report.
When asked what Iran would need to do to violate the ceasefire, Trump said: “Well, you’ll find out, because I’ll let you know … They know what not to do.”
Trump said Iran “should save the white flag of surrender.”
“If this were a fight, they’d stop it,” said Trump.
World
Secret Service says it exchanged gunfire with armed suspect near White House
The suspect was not on the White House property, Quinn said.
The U.S. Secret Service said on Monday its officers confronted an armed and “suspicious individual” near the White House who later fired at them before fleeing on foot and being shot by law enforcement, Reuters reported.
The incident led to a brief lockdown at the White House.
Agents patrolling the outer perimeter of the White House complex identified a person who Secret Service Deputy Director Matthew Quinn said was a “suspicious individual that appeared to have a firearm.”
He briefly fled on foot after being approached by Secret Service officers and fired in their direction, Quinn said at a press conference.
Secret Service then fired at the suspect who was hit and subsequently hospitalized, Quinn added.
Vice President JD Vance’s motorcade transited through the area “not long before” the incident, Quinn said. There was no indication that the suspect intended to approach Vance’s motorcade, the Secret Service deputy director said.
A juvenile bystander was hit by the suspect but did not receive any life-threatening injuries and was being treated at a hospital, Quinn added.
Agents observed “visual print of a firearm” in considering the individual’s behavior as suspicious when he was spotted, Quinn told reporters.
The suspect was not on the White House property, Quinn said.
Law enforcement have been on alert in recent days in the U.S. capital following a shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner late last month over which a man has been arrested, read the report.
Quinn was asked if Monday’s incident was linked to “other recent attempts” on President Donald Trump’s life. Trump was in the White House when this incident unfolded.
“Whether or not it was directed to the president or not, I don’t know but we will find out,” Quinn said.
The Secret Service deputy director confirmed that a weapon was recovered from the suspect but did not elaborate.
The Secret Service said earlier its personnel were on the scene of the officer-involved shooting at 15th Street and Independence Avenue in Washington, D.C.
The DC Police Department was handling the probe.
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