Roundup: Gunman kills eight in eastern Czech town

A 62-year-old local man shot eight people dead in the eastern Czech town of Uhersky Brod on Tuesday afternoon, said Czech Interior Minister Milan Chovanec.

The victims include seven men and one woman, the gunman shot dead himself after the attack in Druzba restaurant in the town.

The interior minister flied to the site of the attack along with Police President Tomas Tuhy board a helicopter.

Uhersky Brod Mayor Patrik Kuncar said the armed man broke into the pub and started shooting indiscriminately.

Kuncar said the gunman fired about 25 shots and he was apparently mentally unstable. The bullets were reportedly from a shotgun.

One injured woman was driven from the place. Uherske Hradiste hospital spokeswoman Dana Lipovska said that the woman was shot in her chest and the injury is serious.

The crossroads near the restaurant was closed and the area was sealed by the police. A special police team is now in the place.

Pavel Lebduska from the Czech commercial television station Prima said that the gunman called the crime line Krimi zpravy of the station before his act to complain about harassment the authorities failed to deal with.

He said the man announced that he was in Uhersky Brod and he was being harmed by lots of people, that he was being harassed, while the authorities ignore it.

Lebduska said the man told him that he had a gun and some hostages and he "will make his own decision." The phone call lasted about four minutes.

He said he had tried to prolong the conversation over the man's identification and that he had contacted the police simultaneously.

Lebduska described the man as "a person absolutely ruined mentally," and "was firmly decided to do it."

Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka, who is on a visit to South Korea, is shocked by the attack, he said it an immense tragedy.

He expressed his deep sorrow and condolences to the families and relatives of the victims.

He said he has asked the Interior Minister Chovanec to oversee the investigation of the police personally.

Czech President Milos Zeman's spokesman Jiri Ovcacek said the president was horrified by the attack and offered his condolences to the families and relatives of the victims.

Chovanec stressed this was not terrorist act. He said the gunman had a gun licence. The police are investigating whether he killed the people by a legally held weapon.

Uhersky Brod is a town with almost 17,000 inhabitants on the Olsava River in the Zlin region, in eastern Czech Republic. Endit