‘She lifted our spirits’: Czechs remember victims of mass shooting as nation holds day of mourning

This Christmas most people's thoughts are with the victims of the Prague gunman

Just one day before the Czech Republic was due to begin its Christmas celebrations, it held a national day of mourning for the victims of the worst mass shooting in its history.

Flags flew at half mast and a minute's silence was held at noon for the 14 people killed by a lone shooter on 21 December in the arts faculty at Prague's Charles University. Images of students hiding from the killer on narrow ledges high above the street horrified the peaceful central European country, where mass violence is extremely rare.