German-Iranian attacker was a lone wolf: Police say

MUNICH, Saturday

The man who went on a rampage at a busy Munich shopping centre before committing suicide was a German-Iranian teenager who probably acted alone, police have said.

Nine people were killed and 16 wounded when the man brought terror to Germany’s third largest city on Friday evening, the third attack on civilians in Europe in eight days.

Bloodbath in Munich was the headline on the best-selling Bild newspaper as shockwaves reverberated across the continent.

The killing sent the southern city into lockdown as elite police launched an operation to track down what had initially been thought to be up to three assailants.

Chancellor Angela Merkel convened her security council to address the shooting, which came just days after an axe rampage on a train in the same German state of Bavaria and just over a week after a truck- attack in the French city of Nice that killed 84.

“The perpetrator was an 18-year-old German-Iranian from Munich,” police chief Hubertus Andrae told reporters, adding that he had no criminal record.

“The motive or explanation for this crime is unclear.”

A police spokesman had said earlier that terrorism was suspected, without revealing any immediate indications of an Islamist link.

Armed with a handgun, the attacker opened fire at a McDonald’s restaurant and continued on the street before entering the mall.

Andrae said there were young people among the dead and that some of the 16 injured were children. A police patrol shot and wounded the gunman but he escaped.

“We found a man who killed himself. We assume that he was the only shooter,” police said.

A video posted on social media appeared to show a man in black walking away from a McDonald’s while firing on people as they fled.

Survivors described terrifying scenes as shoppers rushed from the area, some carrying children.

“We entered McDonald’s to eat...then there was panic, and people ran out,” one woman told Bavarian television.

AXE ATTACK
Another video appeared to show the gunman on a car park roof exchanging insults with a man on a nearby balcony.

“I’m German, I was born here,” the assailant replies after the man fired off a volley of swear words, including an offensive term for foreigners.

Police initially believed there could be up to three assailants.

But Andrae later said two others had nothing to do with the attack — and that they were just fleeing the scene.

Munich’s main train station was evacuated and metro and bus transport suspended for hours while residents were ordered to stay indoors, leaving streets largely deserted.

By early Saturday, transport services were running.

“We are determined to do everything we can so that terror and violence stand no chance in Germany,” Merkel’s chief of staff Peter Altmaier said.

President Joachim Gauck said he was horrified by the “murderous attack”, while US President Barack Obama voiced support for Washington’s close ally.

“Our thoughts are with the victims, their families, and German people. Europe stands united,” EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said.

The attack came just days after a 17-year-old asylum seeker went on a rampage with an axe and a knife on a train near Wuerzburg, also in Bavaria, injuring five people.

LIMIT REFUGEE NUMBERS

Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said assailant was believed to be a “lone wolf” who appeared to have been inspired by Islamic State group, but was not a member of the jihadist network.

The train attack triggered calls by politicians to impose an upper limit on the number of refugees coming into Germany, which accepted a record 1.1 million last year.

The mall is near the stadium for the 1972 Olympics and the athletes’ village which was the site of the hostage-taking of Israeli athletes by the Palestinian Black September group that ended in a massacre.

Europe has been on high alert for terrorism in the wake of a string of attacks in France and Belgium.

“It has reached us. People in Munich have long had a queasy feeling. Fears grew with every attack in Paris, Istanbul or Brussels,” said Abendzeitung editor-in-chief Michael Schilling.

“There were particular concerns about the Oktoberfest. But since Friday it is clear that there can be no security anywhere, not even in the safest German city.”