A “radicalized teenager” shot dead two men in a gay bar in Bratislava, Slovak Prime Minister Eduard Heger announced on Thursday. The shooting occurred on Wednesday outside the Teplaren bar in the city center. The murderer, meanwhile, was found dead in another location in the capital on Thursday, police said. “Two people were murdered simply because they were part of the LGBTI community, the Prime Minister told the press, This is unacceptable. “In a free and democratic country, homosexuals have the right to live freely,” he added.
On Twitter, Eduard Heger described the shooter as a “radicalized teenager”. Local media identified him as 19-year-old Juraj Krajcik, the son of a prominent member of the far-right Vlast party.
The Vice-President of the European Commission, the Slovak Maros Sefcovic, sent his “sincere condolences to the families and loved ones of the victims of the appalling attack in Slovakia”. “This is a painful moment for the whole country. We must all stand firmly against hate in all its forms,” he said on Twitter.
Homophobic and anti-Semitic messages
The Teplaren bar is popular with the Slovak LGBTQ community. Witnesses told daily ems hearing up to 10 gunshots. According to media reports and a local university, one of the victims was a Chinese language student who worked part-time at Teplaren. The other was his friend, a store clerk. According to reports, a third person, a waitress who spoke to the two men, was injured and hospitalized.
Police said Juraj Krajcik’s body was found in a park in another part of town around 8 a.m. Thursday. According to media reports, he had left homophobic and anti-Semitic messages on a Twitter account, saying he did not regret his actions.
A Slovak LGBTQ organization the Inakost Initiative (Difference Initiative), “deeply shocked and touched”, announced on Facebook a commemorative demonstration Friday in Bratislava.