German-Iranian gunman kills nine in Munich shopping mall
By REUTERS
PUBLISHED: 04:08 GMT, 23 July 2016 | UPDATED: 04:08 GMT, 23 July 2016
MUNICH, July 23 (Reuters) - An 18-year-old German-Iranian gunman who apparently acted alone opened fire near a busy shopping mall in Munich on Friday evening, killing at least nine people in the third attack on civilians in Western Europe in eight days.
The pistol-wielding attacker, identified by Munich Police Chief Hubertus Andrae as a dual national from Munich, was later found dead of a suspected self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Authorities said it was too early to say whether it was a terrorist attack, and said they had no immediate evidence of an Islamist motive.
Chancellor Angela Merkel is due to meet her chief of staff, Peter Altmaier, and Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere and a host of intelligence officials on Saturday to review the incident.
Police, citing witnesses, had initially said they were looking for up to three suspects and were treating the incident as a suspected terrorist attack.
But authorities told a news conference early on Saturday the shooter was believed to have staged the attack alone, opening fire in a fast food restaurant before moving to the mall.
Andrae said authorities did not see similarities to an attack in southern Germany last Monday in which an axe-wielding 17-year-old asylum-seeker killed five people in an incident claimed by the Islamic State group.
Andrae said it was premature to say whether the Friday incident was a terrorist attack, as French President Francois Hollande said, or the work of a deranged person.
There was no known motive for the shooting in Germany's third largest city, which went into lockdown with transport halted and highways sealed off immediately after the attack.
U.S. intelligence officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said initial reports from their German counterparts indicated no apparent link between the shooter and Islamic State or other militant groups.
It was the third major act of violence against civilians in Europe in eight days. Previous attacks in France and Germany were claimed by Islamic State.
At least 16 people, including several children, were in hospital and three were in critical condition, Andrae said.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility but supporters of Islamic State celebrated on social media.
"The Islamic state is expanding in Europe," read one tweet.
The gunman, whose body was found on a side street near the mall, was not identified but Andrae said he was not previously known to police.
Police, equipped with night vision equipment and dogs, raided an apartment in the Munich neighbourhood of Maxvorstadt early on Saturday, but a police spokesman declined to comment on whether the raid was focused on the man's home.
He said police did not release names of suspects, even if they were killed, due to privacy concerns.
ANNIVERSARY
The mall is next to the stadium where the Palestinian militant group Black September took 11 Israeli athletes hostage and later killed them during the 1972 Olympic Games.
Friday's incident snarled traffic as authorities blocked highways, closed the main railway station, and shut down public transport.
A police spokesman initially said up to three gunmen were on the run after the shooting. The Bavarian capital was placed under a state of emergency as police hunted for them and special forces were deployed.
Two individuals were seen driving quickly away from the scene, but they were later cleared of any wrongdoing, the police chief said.
Nearly three hours after the shooting, authorities found a body about 1 km (0.6 miles) from the scene that was later determined to be the likely gunman.
German radio station Bayerischer Rundfunk said the man had a red backpack similar to one used by a gunman seen at a McDonald's restaurant where the attack reportedly began. It said police were using a robot to investigate the backpack.
German news magazine Focus said the man had shot himself in the head.
Friday was also the fifth anniversary of the massacre in Norway by Anders Behring Breivik, who killed 77 people. Breivik is a hero for far-right militants in Europe and America.
Thousands of people had been crowding the streets and squares in Munich's city centre on Friday for a beer festival.
Elena Hakes, wearing a blue traditional dress, had been with a friend in the Odeonsplatz square.
"We heard what had happened and decided to leave, it just seemed not befitting anymore to continue partying," Hakes said.
"There were a few people who came running towards us who were screaming and in panic. But mostly it was surprisingly calm."
The incidents in Germany follow an attack in Nice, France, in which a Tunisian drove a truck into crowds celebrating Bastille Day, killing 84. Islamic State claimed responsibility.
The Munich assault was also reminiscent of militant attacks in a shopping mall in Nairobi, Kenya, in 2013, and in Mumbai, India, in 2008.
Norwegian Foreign Minister Borge Brende said on Twitter: "Horrible killings in Munich. Taking place on the same day as we mourn & remember the appalling terror that hit Norway so hard five years ago." (Additional reporting by Michelle Martin, Joseph Nasr, Tina Bellon, Andrea Shalal, Christina Amann; Editing and writing by Andrea Shalal, Angus MacSwan, Hugh Lawson and Tom Brown)
Police give all-clear in Munich shooting; say suspect dead
By ASSOCIATED PRESS
PUBLISHED: 02:03 GMT, 23 July 2016 | UPDATED: 02:03 GMT, 23 July 2016
AP) — An 18-year-old German-Iranian man opened fire in a crowded Munich shopping mall and a nearby McDonald's Friday night, killing nine people and wounding 16 others before killing himself, the chief of police in the Bavarian capital said.
Munich police chief Hubertus Andrae told a news conference early Saturday that the suspect was a dual citizen from Munich and his motive was still "fully unclear." He said it was too early to label the attack an act of terrorism; earlier police said they had no indication of Islamic extremism.
"The question of terrorism or a rampage is tied to motive, and we don't know the motive," Andrae said.
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Police officer search a residential area near the Olympia shopping centre after a shooting was reported there in Munich, southern Germany, Friday, July 22, 2016. Several people have been reported to be killed. (Matthias Balk/dpa via AP)
Police gave a "cautious all clear" in the pre-dawn hours Saturday, more than seven hours after the attack began and brought much of the city to a standstill as all public transit systems were shut down amid a massive manhunt. They said a body found near the scene was that of the shooter and he appeared to have acted alone and killed himself as he fled.
Andrae said the suspect's body was found about 2 1/2 hours after the attack and was determined to be the shooter based on witness statements and closed circuit television footage of the attack. The shooter, whose name wasn't released, was not previously known to police and there was no evidence of any links to terrorist organizations, Andrae said.
"We can't question the suspect so this is all a little more difficult," he said.
A cell-phone video posted online showed the suspect dressed in black standing on a rooftop parking area of the mall yelling back and forth with the person filming, saying at one point "I'm German" and eventually firing shots. Andrae said police believe the video is genuine.
Witnesses had reported seeing three men with firearms near the Olympia Einkaufszentrum mall, but Andrae said two other people who fled the area were investigated but had "nothing to do with the incident."
The police chief said the nine fatalities included young people and children were among the 16 wounded, three of whom were in critical condition.
After gunfire broke out at the mall, one of Munich's largest, the city sent a smartphone alert declaring an "emergency situation" and telling people to stay indoors, while all rail, subway and trolley service was halted in the city.
It was the third major act of violence against civilians in Western Europe in eight days. The previous attacks, in the French resort city of Nice and on a train in Bavaria near the city of Wuerzburg, were claimed by the Islamic State group.
The attack started shortly before 6 p.m. at a McDonald's across the street from the mall, which was filled with people doing their weekend shopping. As dozens of shots rang out, terrified shoppers ran from the scene, some carrying babies and pushing strollers.
Video obtained by The Associated Press from German news agency NonstopNews showed two bodies with sheets draped over them not far from the fast food restaurant. Another video posted online showed a gunman emerging from the door of the McDonald's, raising what appeared to be a pistol with both hands and aiming at people on the sidewalk, firing as they fled in terror.
Witness Luan Zequiri said he was in the mall when the shooting began and "there was a really loud scream," he told German broadcaster n-tv.
He said he saw only one attacker, who yelled an anti-foreigner slur and was wearing jack boots and a backpack.
"I looked in his direction and he shot two people on the stairs," Zequiri said. He said he hid in a shop, then ran outside when the coast was clear and saw bodies of the dead and wounded on the ground.
Germany's Interior Ministry said Munich police had set up a hotline for concerned citizens. Residents of Munich opened their doors to people seeking shelter using the Twitter hashtag #opendoor.
Germany's interior minister cut short his holiday in the United States to go back to Berlin late Friday to meet with security officials.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel was being regularly briefed on the attack, said her chief of staff, Peter Altmaier.
"All that we know and can say right now is that it was a cruel and inhumane attack," he said on German public channel ARD. "We can't rule out that there are terrorist links. We can't confirm them, but we are investigating along those lines too."
Altmaier noted that Friday was the fifth anniversary of the massacre in Oslo, Norway, by a far-right extremist who killed 77 people, 69 of them at a youth summer camp.
"You can only have absolute security in an absolute surveillance state, and nobody wants that, it would be the opposite of our free western European way of life," he said. "But, and this became clear again today, we can't talk down this danger. It's a danger that many countries are exposed, especially in the west, and that's why it's important to give our security agencies the instruments they need."
Police responded in large numbers to the mall in the northern part of Munich, near the city's Olympic Stadium in the Moosach district of the Bavarian capital. In all there were 2,300 officers involved, including the elite GSG9, and SWAT teams from other German states and from neighboring Austria.
It was also not far from where Palestinian attackers opened fire in the Olympic Village in 1972, killing 11 Israeli athletes. Five guerrillas and a police officer were also killed. The GSG9 anti-terrorism unit was created after that attack, though the city saw a worse one in 1980, when 13 people were killed and more than 200 injured at the city's annual Oktoberfest in a bombing blamed on a student with ties to a neo-Nazi group.
It was the second attack in Germany in less than a week. On Monday, a 17-year-old Afghan wounded four people in an ax-and-knife attack on a regional train near the Bavarian city of Wuerzburg, and another woman outside as he fled. All survived, although one man from the train remains in life-threatening condition. The attacker was shot and killed by police.
The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the train attack, but authorities have said the teen likely acted alone.
Gun attacks in Germany are uncommon. Firearm ownership is widespread but they are strictly regulated, with purchasers first having to take training courses in order to be granted a permit to own one. Many types of firearms are banned.
In the U.S., President Barack Obama pledged to provide Germany with whatever help it might need to investigate the mall shooting.
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Jordans and Rising reported from Berlin. Associated Press writers Ferdinand Ostrop In Berlin and Jennifer Farrar in New York contributed to this report.
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Special police forces prepare to search a neighbouring shopping centre outside the Olympia mall in Munich, southern Germany, Friday, July 22, 2016 after several people have been killed in a shooting. (AP Photo/Sebastian Widmann)
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Policemen arrive at a shopping centre in which a shooting was reported in Munich, southern Germany, Friday, July 22, 2016. Situation after a shooting in the Olympia shopping centre in Munich is unclear. (Matthias Balk/dpa via AP)
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Members of the public run away from the Olympia Einkaufszentrum mall, after a shooting, in Munich, Germany, Friday, July 22, 2016. A manhunt was underway Friday for a shooter or shooters who opened fire at a shopping mall in Munich, killing and wounding several people, a Munich police spokeswoman said. The city transit system shut down and police asked people to avoid public places. (AP)
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Police officers securing the Stachus hotel talk to residents after a shooting was reported there in Munich, southern Germany, Friday, July 22, 2016. Several people have been reported to be killed. (Andreas Gebert/dpa via AP)
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GERMANY OUT In this grab taken from video, a body covered with a sheet outside the mall, in Munich, Germany, Friday, July 22, 2016. A manhunt was underway Friday for a shooter or shooters who opened fire at a shopping mall in Munich, killing and wounding several people, a Munich police spokeswoman said. The city transit system shut down and police asked people to avoid public places. (NONSTOP NEWS via AP)
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Police officer holds a gun near the Olympia shopping centre after a shooting was reported there in Munich, southern Germany, Friday, July 22, 2016. Several people have been reported to be killed. (Lukas Schulze/dpa via AP)
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Police escort people who leave the Olympia mall in Munich, southern Germany, Friday, July 22, 2016 after shots were fired. Police said that at least six people have been killed. (AP Photo/Sebastian Widmann)
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Police officers in protective gear woperate at Karlsplatz (Stachus) square after a shooting in the Olympia shopping centre was reported in Munich, southern Germany, Friday, July 22, 2016. (Andreas Gebert/dpa via AP)
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Heavily armed police forces operate at Karlsplatz (Stachus) square after a shooting in the Olympia shopping centre was reported in Munich, southern Germany, Friday, July 22, 2016. (Andreas Gebert/dpa via AP)
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Heavily armed police forces walk through the underground station Karlsplatz (Stachus) after a shooting in the Olympia shopping centre was reported in Munich, southern Germany, Friday, July 22, 2016. (Andreas Gebert/dpa via AP)
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Armed policemen arrive at a shopping centre in which a shooting was reported in Munich, southern Germany, Friday, July 22, 2016. Situation after a shooting in the Olympia shopping centre in Munich is unclear. (Matthias Balk/dpa via AP)
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Policemen arrive at a shopping centre in which a shooting was reported in Munich, southern Germany, Friday, July 22, 2016. Situation after a shooting in the Olympia shopping centre in Munich is unclear. (Matthias Balk/dpa via AP)
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In this frame grab taken from video, people run from the Olympia Einkaufszentrum shopping centre after a shooting, in Munich, Germany, Friday, July 22, 2016. Munich police confirm shots have been fired at Olympia Einkaufszentrum shopping center but say they don't have any details about casualties.(Thamina Stoll/UGC via AP)
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CORRECTS SOURCE Armed police move past onlooking media responding to a shooting at a shopping center in Munich, Germany, Friday July 22, 2016. Munich police confirm shots have been fired at Olympia Einkaufszentrum shopping center but say they don't have any details about casualties. Police are responding in large numbers. (AP)
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CORRECTS SOURCE Police in Munich, Germany respond to a shooting at a shopping center in Munich, Friday July 22, 2016. Munich police confirm shots have been fired at Olympia Einkaufszentrum shopping center but say they don't have any details about casualties. Police are responding in large numbers. (AP)
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