The Faculty of Arts at Charles University in Prague reopened its doors on Sunday for a day aimed at calming the shocked university community, a month after the murder of 14 people there. This is a “very important step in the healing process,” welcomed Faculty Dean Eva Leheckova.
This brief reopening aims to respond to the university community’s need to physically return to the building and follows advice from psychologists to quickly return to the scene of the tragedy. The establishment “has been rather quiet for a month and we are impatiently awaiting the return of the usual activity,” Eva Leheckova told journalists. Lectures, book exchanges and artistic performances are planned for Sunday, explained Vice Dean Martin Pehal.
Extremely rare shootings in Czech Republic
The first classes will resume on February 19, even if the fourth floor, where the shooting occurred, will remain closed for the immediate future, said Eva Leheckova. At the end of December, the faculty announced that it would remain closed at least until the end of January. On December 21, a 24-year-old student opened fire in the faculty premises, killing 14 people, before committing suicide. 24 other people were injured.
As Christmas approached, the attack shook the Czech Republic, a country of 10.8 million inhabitants, a member of the European Union and NATO, where shootings of this kind are extremely rare. According to police, the assailant also killed two people chosen at random in the suburbs of Prague on December 15, a young father and his two-month-old daughter. On the day of the shooting, the murderer had first murdered his father, in the house where they both lived. His motivations have not yet been clarified.