German police shot and killed an 18-year-old Austrian man who opened fire on them with a vintage rifle near the Israeli consulate in Munich on Thursday, September 5.
The incident, which unfolded around 9:00 am (0700 GMT), is being treated as a foiled attack on the diplomatic mission.
Authorities have yet to confirm the motive, but Bavarian state premier Markus Soeder expressed a “terrible suspicion” that the attack may be linked to the anniversary of the deadly 1972 attack on Israeli athletes during the Munich Olympic Games by Palestinian militants.
The gunman, who was killed on the spot, has been identified as a known Islamist extremist, according to reports from Spiegel Online and Austrian media. It was revealed that the shooter had been previously investigated last year for allegedly spreading Islamic State propaganda, but the case was dropped.
Video footage shared by German media captured the tense moments as police commandos, wearing body armour and helmets, took cover from the gunman’s shots before unleashing a hail of bullets that killed him. Five police officers reportedly fired at the man.
Authorities confirmed that the weapon found beside him was a vintage rifle fitted with a bayonet. Bavarian state interior minister Joachim Herrmann said the incident is being treated as a “possible attack on an Israeli institution.”
The shootout sparked a mass mobilisation of about 500 police in the city centre, with residents and office workers ordered to stay indoors as sirens blared and helicopters flew overhead.
The timing of the attack coincided with the 52nd anniversary of the Munich Olympic massacre, where 11 Israeli athletes and a German police officer were killed by gunmen from the Palestinian Black September group, a tragic memory that continues to haunt the city.
Investigations into the incident are ongoing.
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