Police kill armed man near Israeli consulate in Munich terror attack

(CNN) — German police shot dead an armed man after a terror attack near the Israeli consulate in central Munich on Thursday, officers said, prompting an investigation by state prosecutors.

The suspect – an 18-year-old Austrian citizen – was armed with an older rifle with a mounted bayonet when he was shot on Karolinenplatz, a square near the Israeli consulate and a Nazi documentation center, according to police in Munich.

The suspect was fatally injured after shots were exchanged, Munich police said in a post on X. Five officers were involved in the shootout, according to Andreas Franken, a police spokesperson.

At least 500 personnel were called to the scene in Munich’s city center, Bavarian Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann said. A helicopter was deployed to provide a more detailed assessment of the incident, according to Reuters.

There is no indication other suspects may be involved, police added. Authorities assume the attack was planned, Herrmann told reporters on Tuesday. The teenager had parked a car near the scene of the shooting.

One unnamed eyewitness told German media that he heard several bullets fired, before police shot the suspect to the ground.

“I heard several shots and, as a member of a shooting club, I knew immediately that they were firing,” the 65-year-old man told Bild newspaper. “It took several minutes for the first police officers to come up behind him. They then shot him at least 30 to 40 times. After that, I just heard them shouting: ‘He’s lying on the ground, he’s not moving.’”

Investigation underway

The suspect may have been influenced by religious extremism, the Bavarian attorney general’s office said on Tuesday, after launching an investigation into the shooting.

“There are indications that the perpetrator was known in the Islamist environment. The investigation is ongoing, so nothing concrete can be said at this stage,” chief public prosecutor Florian Weinzierl, said on Thursday. Officials will investigate whether other people knew about the crime.

The suspect was already known to police in February 2023, after making a dangerous threat against pupils and causing bodily harm, according to the Austrian police department in Salzburg.

He was also accused of participating in a terrorist organization, and was active online. The teenager was also interested in explosives and weapons, the police department added. In April 2023, the Salzburg public prosecutor’s office dropped all charges, following an investigation.

Authorities confirmed a weapons ban against the then 17-year-old, which was scheduled to remain in place until at least the beginning of 2028. He had not been reported to officers since then, the police department added.

The incident took place on the anniversary of the 1972 Munich Olympics terror attack – when a Palestinian militant group entered the quarters of Israel’s national team. Eleven Israeli athletes were killed in the ensuing standoff.

It is not clear if Thursday’s incident is at connected to the 1972 event, but the Israeli consulate nearby was closed for a commemoration.

Bavarian Minister President Markus Soeder cautioned there is a “terrible suspicion” that the shooting was linked to the anniversary, but said more clarification was needed to determine the motive.

“The protection of Jewish institutions is of central importance to us,” he said in a press conference on Tuesday. “The motives and backgrounds of the perpetrators will certainly have to be determined in the coming hours, but one thing is clear, there is a serious suspicion, because today is the anniversary of the attack in Munich in 1972, there may be a connection.”

On Facebook, Talya Lador-Fresher, the Israeli consul general in Munich said, “We are very grateful to the police in Munich for their actions and cooperation. This event shows how dangerous the rise of Antisemitism is. It is important that the general public speaks against this. Our Consulate General was closed today to commemorate 52 years since the terrorist attack at the Olympics.”

Chancellor Olaf Scholz condemned the terror attack on Thursday.

“Let me be clear: anti-Semitism and Islamism have no place in our country,” he said in a post on X. “The quick reaction of the emergency services in Munich today may have prevented something terrible from happening. I am very grateful to them for that.”

The incident came on the heels of a divisive round of regional elections in Germany – after the Alternative for Germany (AfD) became the first far-right party to win a state election in the country since the Nazi era, on Sunday.

This story has been updated.

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