Teenager arrested in stabbing deaths of 2 women in Czech Republic

PRAGUE — An assailant attacked and killed two women with a knife Thursday at a shopping center in the Czech Republic, officials said, and a Czech teenager later was arrested for the crime.

A motive was not immediately known for the attack in the city of Hradec Kralove, some 100 kilometers (60 miles) east of Prague. Police said on X there was no indication of a “terror attack," and that the attacker apparently chose victims at random.

The victims were not immediately identified. Reports initially said they had been injured, one of them seriously, but police later confirmed that both died.

Police detained a 16-year-old Czech national about 1 kilometer (less than a mile) from the scene, shortly after the attack. A knife was found nearby.

Prime Minister Petr Fiala offered his condolences to relatives of the dead. “What has happened in Hradec Kralove today is an absolutely incomprehensible and horrible act,” he posted on X.

Police said the situation was under control, there was no danger to the public and that security in the city was not boosted. No other details were immediately available.