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The tragic December 2023 shooting at Charles University’s Faculty of Arts has claimed another victim. Officials confirmed that a body discovered at the bottom of the Macocha Abyss on Saturday was that of Lenka Šimůnková, the mother of one of the victims.
Šimůnková’s death was confirmed by former police chief and senator Róbert Šlachta via Instagram. He wrote, “Lenka Šimůnková, the mother of Eliška, who was shot by the murderer at the faculty, decided to end her life by jumping into the abyss. I am extremely sad.”
The identity of the deceased was also confirmed by a source to MF DNES, reports iDnes.cz. The Macocha Abyss is a more than 138-meter-deep sinkhole in the Moravian Karst cave system.
Lenka Šimůnková, whose only child Eliška was killed in the country’s deadliest shooting, was one of the most outspoken critics of the investigation into the massacre, which left 14 dead and dozens injured. She was the first parent of a victim to speak out publicly.
Šimůnková criticized the police response and held Interior Minister Vít Rakušan accountable. After a parliamentary investigation committee failed to identify specific misconduct by the officers involved in the shooting, Šimůnková rented a billboard in February, publicly naming those she held responsible for her daughter’s death.
These included Rakušan, Police President Martin Vondrášek, and Prague Police Chief Petr Matějček.
Some families of the victims are troubled by the fact that the shooter spent an hour and a half preparing for the attack inside the building, which police only partially searched, according to a police report.
Rakušan responded to the news of her death, expressing his condolences: “I am sorry for her death. She is essentially another victim of the shooting, the consequences of which our society is still dealing with—most difficult for the survivors and families of the victims. We are working to reduce the likelihood of similar tragedies as much as possible.”
Eliška Šimůnková, who studied Languages and Communication of the Deaf at the Faculty of Arts, Charles University, was 20 years old when she died. A memorial page on the university website features Šimůnková's memories of her daughter.
