Massacre gunman shot himself dead as police closed in

A GUNMAN who claimed 14 lives in the Czech Republic's worst mass shooting killed himself as police moved in.

- Cyril Dixon

Today has been declared a day of mourning in the shocked central European nation.

It has emerged that rifle maniac David Kozak may have killed three other people before he launched his bloody assault on the ancient Charles University in Prague's Old Town yesterday afternoon.

Kozak is said to have fantasised about killing and suffered personal problems including depression.

However, authorities are still seeking a motive for the carnage that began around 3pm local time.

As well as the 14 killed, 25 people were injured including 10 seriously during Kozak's rampage with a sniper rifle.

The 24-year-old former history student is thought to have also killed his father shortly before the university massacre.

He is also being linked to the murder of a dad and his newborn baby in Klánovický les National Forest last week.

The first victim of the mass shooting was named yesterday as Lenka Hlavkova, head of the Institute of Musicology. Jakob Weizman, a journalist and student, heard "gunshots" and "screaming" while sitting a language exam.

Panicked, he and his teacher locked themselves in their classroom.