A 16-year-old boy stabbed and killed two women in a Czech store on Thursday morning, police reported, stating that the motive remains unknown, according to AFP.

 

The suspect, a Czech national, was arrested just minutes after the attack in a shopping area on the outskirts of Hradec Králové, roughly 100 kilometers (60 miles) east of Prague.

 

"Both victims sustained critical injuries that rescuers were unable to treat successfully," police said on X.

 

According to local media, the attacker targeted a shop assistant at the counter and another employee in a back room. TV footage from the scene showed officers patrolling outside a discount store.

 

Authorities are still investigating the assailant’s motives.

 

Prime Minister Petr Fiala expressed his condolences to the victims' families, condemning the attack as a "horrific and incomprehensible act."

 

While violent incidents are uncommon in Czechia, a European Union and NATO member with a population of 10.9 million, the country experienced a mass shooting in 2023 when a university student in Prague killed 14 people and injured 25 others.