Aussie couple just 100m away from mass shooting in Prague

An Australian man was just 100m away when gunfire broke out at a university in Prague, killing at least 15 people.

An Aussie man holidaying in Prague who was about 100m from the worst mass shooting in the Czech Republic’s history has described the experience as “really eerie”.

Alex Wilson and his partner were at a local bar near the popular tourist spot Charles Bridge when gunfire broke out at Charles University.

A 24-year-old student killed at least 15 people and wounded dozens more

People cling to a ledge to try to escape the gunman. Picture: Supplied

The couple didn’t hear or see anything at first, but when other restaurant diners scurried away and hastily paid their bills, Mr Wilson said something “didn’t feeling right”.

“We quickly realised there were some people leaving the area and we noticed that something wasn’t OK,” he said.

It wasn’t until he received a text message from a good mate in London asking if he was OK that the couple “hit the panic button”.

Alex Wilson from Sydney was holidaying in Prague, just 100m from where the shooting took place. Picture: Supplied.

“We scurried back to the hotel and flicked the news on and it kicked in from there,” Mr Wilson said.

Describing the city as “hectic” with a large police presence, Mr Wilson said he never thought he would end up in a situation like this.

“We are Sydneysiders … we don’t have situations like that back in Australia, so it was very weird, very eerie feeling.”

Having been at Charles University just the day before the shooting, Mr Wilson said he was “quite lucky not to have been directly outside the university” at the time of the shooting.

The city has a heavy police presence on the streets, with authorities saying the gunman has been ‘eliminated’ Picture: Gabriel Kuchta/Getty Images

Police chief Martin Vondrasek said police started a search for the shooter before the attack, as his father had been found dead in the village of Hostoun, west of Prague.

The gunman “left for Prague saying he wanted to kill himself”, Mr Vondrasek said.

Police suggested earlier the gunman had killed his father.

Mr Wilson told Sunrise on Friday morning that he and his partner had moved from Sydney to London last month for professional reasons.

While the Prague shooting was “awful”, Mr Wilson didn’t believe it would change their mindset about living in Europe.

“We are just enjoying a Euro Christmas trip at the moment. I think it is going to take it in your stride,” he said.

“You need to keep the can-do Aussie attitude and keep on.”