Munich Gunman Killed 9, Wounded 16 Before Killing Himself

Munich: At least nine people were killed and 16 others injured Friday in a shooting rampage at a busy shopping district in Munich, Germany, police said.

Police searched for attackers, thinking there might be three, and found a man who had killed himself on a side street near Olympia shopping mall, police Chief Hubertus Andrae said. Based on surveillance video and witness statements, police concluded he was the sole gunman, Andrae said. The gunman in Munich started shooting at a McDonald’s across from the Olympia mall around 5:50 p.m. (11:50 a.m. ET), Andrae said.

The unidentified attacker was an 18-year-old German-Iranian who had lived in Munich for at least two years. The man was not known to police and his motives are unclear, authorities said. No group has claimed responsibility.

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.

A number of children were among the casualties. The shooting comes as recent terrorist attacks have put Europe on high alert.

The gunman moved across the street to the mall, which is adjacent to the site of the 1972 Olympics. Located in a middle-class neighborhood in northern Munich, the shopping mall is the city’s biggest and a popular destination for shoppers on Friday nights.

This week, a teenager who said he was inspired by ISIS, stabbed passengers on a German train before police shot him dead. A German official on July 20 described the footage of the teenage suspect in the German train stabbings as a “classical farewell video” of a suicide attacker that indicates he was inspired by ISIS. The stabbings took place on July 18 on a train shortly after it left Wurzburg for Treuchtlingen. Five passengers were injured, and police shot the teen dead after a confrontation. The suspect has not been named.

On July 14, 84 people were killed when a man drove a large truck through a crowd celebrating Bastille Day in Nice, France.