A shooting broke out on Thursday morning when the German police shot dead an armed man after a terror attack near the Israeli consulate in central Munich.
The suspect, an 18-year-old Austrian citizen, was armed with an older rifle with a mounted bayonet. He is believed to have planned the attack, and there is no indication of other suspects.
The suspect was shot dead after exchanging fire with the police on Karolinenplatz, a square near the Israeli consulate and a Nazi documentation centre. One unnamed eyewitness told German media that he heard several bullets fired before police shot the suspect to the ground.
The investigation into the case is ongoing. However, the Bavarian attorney general’s office said that the suspect may have been influenced by religious extremism because „there are indications that the perpetrator was known in the Islamist environment.”
The suspect was already known to police after making a dangerous threat against pupils and causing bodily harm in February 2023. Nevertheless, in April 2023, the Salzburg public prosecutor’s office dropped all charges against him following an investigation.
He was also accused of participating in a terrorist organisation, was active online, and was interested in explosives and weapons.
It is not clear if the incident is connected to the anniversary of the 1972 Munich Olympics terror attack when a Palestinian militant group entered the quarters of Israel’s national team and killed eleven Israeli athletes. Still, the Israeli consulate nearby was closed for a commemoration, so the consular staff was not injured.
Photo credit: Matthias Schrader/AP
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