Gunman opens fire in Czech hospital

A gunman killed six patients in a waiting room at a Czech hospital on Tuesday. Six other people sustained injuries in the attack in the eastern city of Ostrava. The suspect used an illegal weapon and later shot himself to death in his car as responding police officers closed in on him.

What motivated the attack? Interior Minister Jan Hamacek said authorities are investigating the reason for the shooting. Prime Minister Andrej Babis, who condemned the violence, said the suspect shot the victims at close range. “It’s an unfortunate, individual act,” Babis said. It was the deadliest mass shooting in the Czech Republic since 2015, when one man shot and killed eight people in a pub in Uherský Brod before killing himself.

Dig deeper: From the WORLD archives, read Leigh Jones’ on the shooting in the city of Uherský Brod.