Bio

Publicly available reporting does not give details about Zdeněk Konopka’s childhood, place of birth, or schooling. He was about 54 years old in 2020, which suggests he was born around 1965–1966. Other basic early-life facts such as his parents’ names or his education were not found in the sources provided.

Most public information about Konopka describes his life as an adult. By 2020 he had four prior criminal convictions, two of them for violent offenses. He was known in reports for aggression and for drinking large amounts of alcohol. Because of his criminal record, he could not legally own a real firearm.

A few weeks before the later events reported in the media, Konopka threatened his wife and son with a gas pistol at a nearby lake. After that incident, his wife moved to live with their son. Police had an open investigation into that threat at the time.

Murder Story

On 8 August 2020 a fire broke out at an apartment building on Nerudova Street in Bohumín in the north-eastern Czech Republic. Eleven people died and fifteen were injured.

Police arrested 54-year-old Zdeněk Konopka in front of the building. He admitted that he filled plastic bottles with about eight liters of gasoline at a petrol station and went to his son’s flat. A birthday party was taking place there. Konopka poured gasoline in the hallway and on the entrance doors and set it on fire.

The fire spread very quickly through the flat. Six people died on the 11th floor. Four people escaped by climbing across balconies to a neighbor’s flat. Five people who were already on fire jumped from a window and died. Three of the dead were children. Konopka’s son, his grandson, his soon-to-be daughter-in-law and his estranged wife were among those who died. Konopka suffered burn wounds on his hands and legs.

Authorities received calls about the fire at 17:46 and 17:47. Fire units were dispatched at 17:49. The first crews reached the building at 17:54 and went to the 11th floor to begin rescue work. More units arrived between 18:01 and 18:06. Twenty-eight firefighters took part in the initial rescue. Later 46 fire personnel worked at the scene with nine fire engines and three ladder trucks. The fire was under control at 18:30 and was fully extinguished at 19:43. Five people jumped from a window while a landing mattress was being prepared.

Nine people were rescued from other flats. Fifteen people needed medical attention and ten were taken to hospital. Two firefighters were among the injured; one volunteer firefighter inhaled smoke and a professional firefighter suffered serious burns to the neck.

Media identified several victims by name. They included Lukáš Konopka (30), the perpetrator’s son; Dominik (9), the perpetrator’s grandson; Lenka V. (30), the soon-to-be daughter-in-law whose birthday was being celebrated; Silvia (53), the perpetrator’s estranged wife; Jana, the perpetrator’s mother-in-law; Nikola G. (17, eight months pregnant); and Melinka. Four other deceased people were not identified by media. People who managed to climb through balconies and were wounded included Rostislav, who suffered serious burns, and Žaneta, the mother of Lenka and Nikola, who also suffered serious burns. Jakub A. and Pavel were also among the wounded.

Police charged Konopka with multiple murder and public endangerment and ordered his remand on 11 August. A remand request said he had planned the attack, drank alcohol beforehand, and rang the doorbell with open bottles of gasoline in each hand. A woman opened the door and he threw one open bottle at her. She shut the door. He then poured the remaining gasoline on the doors and some of it flowed under the doors into the flat. He set the gasoline on fire and went outside, where police confronted and arrested him. Investigators concluded the fire was deliberately set and said the motive was a family conflict. Konopka had four prior criminal convictions and an investigation was open into an earlier incident in which he threatened family members with a gas pistol.

On 30 November 2021 the County Court in Ostrava accepted a plea bargain under which Konopka admitted guilt and accepted a sentence of life imprisonment. He avoided a lengthy public trial.

The Bohumín arson attack was the worst mass murder in post-World War II Czech history until the 2023 Prague shooting. Other recent mass murders in the Czech Republic include the 2013 Frenštát pod Radhoštěm explosion, the 2015 Uherský Brod shooting, and the 2019 Ostrava hospital attack. The January 2020 Vejprty care center fire was also started deliberately according to investigators, though no one had been charged in that case at the time.