Czech Police are investigating the case of an anonymous email in which the author threatened several Czech universities with shootings. They are searching for the perpetrator and have taken security measures, Prague police spokeswoman Eva Kropacova told CTK today.
Among others, Prague’s Charles University received the threatening email. Its spokesman Vaclav Hajek told CTK that the email addressed to six universities was a demand for ransom payments, otherwise the blackmailer threatened to shoot at an unspecified location.
According to CTK, the threat was addressed to Charles University, Jan Evangelista Purkyně University in Usti nad Labem, the University of West Bohemia in Plzen, the University of Hradec Kralove, Palacky University in Olomouc, and the Faculty of Arts of Masaryk University in Brno.
“After being notified of a potential threat directed at several universities, in which the anonymous person threatened to shoot, we immediately began taking steps to ensure the security of all possible affected facilities,” Czech police wrote on Twitter (styled as ‘X’).
They later added that the threat was not specified for today. They wrote on Twitter this morning that they are communicating with all the universities affected and will set security measures based on an assessment of all risks.
According to Hajek, the email arrived at the Charles University rector’s office at 9am today.
“Charles University management informed the Czech Police, who said there was no immediate danger,” Hajek told CTK.
Kropacova did not specify which other universities received the letter. She said the email had been sent to Prague and was also threatening to several other cities. She said the individual security measures in those places are the responsibility of the local regional police directorates.
Police officers last intervened at Charles University in January, when they were called to the Mathematics and Physics Faculty building in Prague 8 to a student carrying a large bag and behaving suspiciously. It was eventually discovered that the bag was full of books. The distraught man was taken by ambulance to a psychiatric hospital, but police said he had not committed any illegal acts.
On 21 December last year, 14 people, including students and teachers, lost their lives and another 25 people were wounded in a shooting at the Charles University Faculty of Arts building in the centre of Prague. After the attack, the perpetrator, a student of the faculty, committed suicide.
