Czech Police: Shooter was a juvenile, no indications yet of extremism playing a role

The person suspected of having shot at a bus full of people on Tuesday evening in the Czech town of Plzeň is a 15-year-old youth, according to police. The suspect was apprehended by detectives less than 24 hours after the crime was committed and is now in a police cell.  

The youth is said to have fired the gun in the presence of his father, Regional Police Spokesperson Ivana Jelínková told the Czech News Agency. No one was injured during the incident Tuesday.  

"The arrested youth is said to have received an illegally-held firearm from his father and to have fired it several times at the scene in question in his father's presence. He hit the bus as it was driving by," the spokesperson said.

The facts of the case are now being evaluated, as are the criminal liability of the juvenile and his father. The suspect was arrested and is in a police cell.

"According to the investigation to date there are no indications that this was a crime with an extremist subtext or a crime related to foreign nationals on the territory of the Czech Republic. All of the circumstances of the case and the facts pertinent to the objective, proper evaluation of this matter are now topics for investigation," the spokesperson said.

At the time of the shooting there were 90 people on the bus, mainly foreign nationals commuting to nearby factories. Czech Interior Minister Milan Chovanec (Czech Social Democratic Party) tweeted earlier today that police would be determining to what degree the incident "might be yet another political provocation" after last week's anti-immigrant demonstration in Prague.