The man who shot the official in Prague was questioned by the police. He made a shotgun and planned other acts – ČT24 – Czech Television
In the man’s car, the police found a homemade shotgun at night. “Most likely he will have to shoot, but he will still confirm or refute the ballistics,” said police spokesman Jan Danek. The booby-trapped pyrotechnics did not appear.
The shot office worker succumbed to the hospital with a serious injury. According to police, the man insulted her in writing and threatened her in 2016 when his application for unemployment benefits was denied. “Until now, for almost five years, we have no information that the victim would turn to the police again in this regard, with the proviso that he would contact again or attack in any way,” the spokesman said.
Other actions were to be directed against persons with whom he had disputes in recent years. “These were both family members, officials of various institutions, a former colleague from work, an employer, and employees of law enforcement agencies. In fact, it can be said that he had disputes with everyone he came in contact with, and this circle of people was large, “Daněk described.
Criminal investigators who detained the men on Tuesday afternoon in Palackého Street in the center of Prague, who were already being searched for in connection with the etching of a woman by an unknown person. According to media reports, she was a former colleague and the incident took place in the parking lot in front of the Aero Vodochody building in Odolena Voda, where he previously worked as a designer.
Apparently he was settling accounts for the loss of his job. The company has successfully sued him in the past for insulting her on the Internet and slandering her management. The iDNES.cz server stated last year that the court banned the man from doing so and ordered him to compensate the former employer with one million crowns. According to the server, experts dealt with the male psyche in 2016 with the conclusion that he has a personality disorder, but is not mentally ill and his aggression is only verbal.
Anonymous threat
In connection with the search, police officers entered an apartment in Liben, Prague, over the weekend. He had a booby-trap system installed on the door, and one of the intervening officers damaged his hearing as he entered. According to Danek, the police first considered this act as illegal weapons, but later reclassified it as a criminal offense of murder at the stage of experimentation. “Only thanks to the tactical correct procedure of the police officers in the apartment during the search of it, no one came to serious harm or death,” Daněk wrote.
Police President Jan Švejdar wrote on Twitter that he regretted that part of the public questioned the successful capture of the perpetrator. “There has been a huge human tragedy and society is resonating whether it has been done. From all the information I have at the moment, I have come to the conclusion that the perpetrator’s attack cannot be prevented. With greater effort, it failed, although the police did their best to do so. I am very sorry for the wasted human life and I express my deepest condolences to my family, “he said.
After Wednesday, the twentieth hour, police said that someone was threatening to continue the actions that the detainee planned. “We have taken covert measures that, for tactical reasons, we cannot specify,” they said. However, according to them, no one is in immediate danger. “We are looking for the author of the threat,” the police added.
Official unions are calling for protection
The Trade Union of State Bodies and Organizations responded to Tuesday’s tragic event. In an open letter to the Prime Minister, the trade unions called on the Prime Minister Andrej Babiš (YES) to anchor the protection of office workers in the legislation. The Ministry of Labor Jana Maláčová (ČSSD) has already said that her ministry will do everything to increase the safety of its employees.
“The trade union has long been concerned about the risk factors of support, especially for counter officials,” said Pavel Bednář, head of the official unions. He mentioned that the attacks are not only faced by civil servants. City hall employees are also a target for handling offenses.
The union recalled that when negotiating a higher-level collective agreement for 2019, trade unions proposed provisions on the obligation to ensure the safety of workers due to possible threats to health and life. Among other things, they sought to ensure that the ministries and authorities reimbursed the challenged civil servants or legal assistance or represented them in court, in cases of both physical and verbal attacks, the union specified. According to him, representatives of the Ministries of Labor and the Interior said at the time that the provisions for the protection of officials would be included in the amendment. “Unfortunately, nothing tangible has happened in this matter so far,” Bednář said.
The trade union represents employees of labor offices, financial offices, social administration or cadastral offices. Trade unions and authorities have long complained about the threat and outages against workers.