Czech hero Libor Cicvařek of Chřibská awarded Medal of Heroism

Czech President Petr Pavel has posthumously awarded the Medal of Heroism to Libor Cicvařek, an employee of the town hall in Chřibská in northern Bohemia. At a ceremony at Prague Castle on 28 October, his courage during the January shooting was recognised: despite being wounded himself, he saved others.

In January, a sign reading “Cica, you are our hero” appeared in front of the town hall, surrounded by dozens of candles, flowers and a photograph of a smiling, thickly bearded man. The quiet town on the edge of the Bohemian Switzerland National Park was in shock.

What happened in Chřibská

On Monday 19 January, a local man first fired from the window of his flat towards the square, then entered the town hall building and carried on shooting there. A few minutes later he shot himself. Six people were wounded and one died: 54-year-old town hall employee Libor Cicvařek, nicknamed Cica. Residents are convinced that without his presence of mind and heroism there could have been more victims.

The gunman, a 39-year-old local whom townspeople described as a drug user with problematic behaviour, opened fire while Cicvařek and Mayor Jan Machač were discussing repairs to the façade at the town hall doors. The first bullet hit the mayor in the shoulder blade, the second passed through his thigh, and another grazed Cicvařek’s leg. Despite his own injury, Cicvařek immediately began helping the twice-wounded mayor and got him inside, then ran upstairs to colleagues so they could bring something to bandage the wound. The mayor managed to hide in the boiler room and call the police.

Meanwhile, the gunman went out onto the square, shot up the town hall’s service car, entered the building and climbed to the second floor. Cicvařek and other employees tried to stop him by barricading the door with furniture, and he also warned a colleague by phone not to enter the building, which probably saved that person’s life. Cicvařek himself died when the gunman hit him with two more bullets. Among the six injured were three police officers wounded in an exchange of fire.

“So that his deed is not forgotten”

Cicvařek worked at the town hall as a handyman. “He was an ordinary man who never let anyone down. He always helped when he could. He was a real jack of all trades,” Mayor Jan Machač recalled. A friend of the victim called him the kindest person in Chřibská: “He was always laughing, joking, helping whoever he could.”

The town council honoured his memory with a minute of silence at its first meeting after the tragedy. In March, the Ústí nad Labem Region announced that regional governor Richard Brabec (ANO) had sent the president a proposal to honour Cicvařek, with broad support from the region’s leadership, the town and local residents. “There are turning points when a person’s character is fully revealed. At such a moment Libor Cicvařek showed exceptional bravery,” Brabec said.

The president’s decision states that the medal was awarded for heroism in saving human lives: Cicvařek “saved and protected others with exceptional courage, giving his own life.” This year Petr Pavel presented state decorations for the fourth time: on 28 October 2026, 51 people received them.

Around Prague, based on reporting by seznamzpravy.cz