Was the video capturing the evacuation of people from Prague University's Faculty of Arts building during the mass shooting on December 21, 2023, staged? No, that's not true: The video was recorded by a bystander and subsequently shared on social media. The footage aligns with other recordings from different witnesses, showing law enforcement facilitating the evacuation from the building where more than a dozen students and teachers were killed. The video likely captures the moments preceding the gunman's emergence on the building's roof, firing upon people in the street before ultimately taking his own life.
The claim appeared in a video (archived here) on TikTok on December 30, 2023. It shows people running with their hands up across the square away from the Faculty of Arts building towards the river embankment. The text in the video (translated from Czech to English by Lead Stories staff) read:
Make your own opinion, it feels staged to me.
This is what the post looked like on TikTok at the time of writing:
(Source: TikTok screenshot taken on Sun Jan 7 13:36:54 2024 UTC)
The footage shown in the video originates from a post on social media platform X (archived here). The X account, identified only as TP (archived here), posted it along with the statement, "I am American who was at the Prague shooting" on December 21, 2023. The conclusion of the original footage, not included in the video on TikTok, contains audio of gunshots and people reacting with screams as they realize the shooter is targeting individuals on the street.
The footage was taken on the other side of Jan Palach Square in Prague, facing the main entrance to the university building as shown on the map below. 
(Source: Mapy.cz screenshot taken on Sun Jan 7 13:45:54 2024 UTC)
Similar video footage depicting people being evacuated and walking away from the university building toward the river, captured from a different angle, can be seen here.
A student had opened fire at a university building in Prague, resulting in 14 fatalities and 25 injuries, in the country's most devastating mass shooting. The Czech police released bodycam footage (archived here), showing their pursuit of the gunman within Prague's central building. According to the police, the first officers arrived at the scene within a "few minutes" after receiving the call, as stated in a press conference on December 22, 2023. Before taking his own life, the assailant ascended to the roof and indiscriminately fired at people on the streets using a long-range rifle, causing additional injuries beyond those within the building, as reported by the police.
