A STUDENT opened fire at a university in Prague on Thursday, killing at least 14 people and injuring more than 20, officials said.

The shooting is the Czech Republic’s worst-ever mass shooting.

The bloodshed took place in the philosophy department building of Charles University, where the shooter was a student, Prague Police Chief Martin Vondrasek said. 

The gunman also died, authorities said. His name has not been released.

Chief Vondrasek said in the evening that 14 people had died and 25 were injured although authorities warned that the death toll could rise.

Police gave no details about the victims or a possible motive for the shooting at the building located near the Vltava River in Jan Palach Square. 

Czech Interior Minister Vit Rakusan said that investigators do not suspect a link to any extremist ideology or groups.

Chief Vondrasek said that police believe the gunman killed his father earlier on Thursday in his home town of Hostoun, just west of Prague, and that he had also been planning to kill himself. He did not elaborate.

Later on Thursday, Chief Vondrasek said that based on a search of his home, the gunman was also suspected in the killing of another man and his two-month-old daughter December 15, in Prague.

The chief described the shooter as an excellent student with no criminal record, but did not provide any other information.

The heavily armed gunman suffered “devastating injuries” but it wasn’t clear if he killed himself or was shot to death in an exchange of gunfire with officers, Chief Vondrasek said, saying that there was “nothing to suggest that he had an accomplice.”

Chief Vondrasek said that the actions of the shooter appeared “well thought out, a horrible act.”

A statement from Charles University said: “We mourn the loss of life of members of our university community, express our deepest condolences to all the bereaved and our thoughts are with all those affected by the tragedy.”

Pavel Nedoma, the director of the nearby Rudolfinum Gallery, said he watched from a window as a person standing on a balcony of the building fired a gun.

President Petr Pavel said he was “shocked” by what happened and offered his condolences to the relatives of the victims.

The Czech government declared on Saturday a national day of mourning to honour the shooting victims, Prime Minister Petr Fiala said.

Previously, the nation’s worst mass shooting was in 2015, when a gunman opened fire in the south-eastern town of Uhersky Brod, killing eight before fatally shooting himself.