German police kill gunman suspected of targeting Israeli consulate in Munich

NEWS WIRES

5 September 2024 at 11:58 am·1-min read

An 18-year-old Austrian man was shot dead by German police in Munich on Thursday after opening fire near the Israeli consulate and the Documentation Center for the History of National Socialism. While the motive for the attack is not yet known, Bavarian state premier Markus Soeder said "there is a terrible suspicion" the attack is linked to Thursday's anniversary of the deadly 1972 attack on Israeli athletes at the Olympic Games in Munich by Palestinian militants.

German police shot and killed a man who opened fire on them with a vintage rifle near the Israeli consulate in Munich Thursday in what they treated as a foiled attack on the diplomatic mission.

Authorities identified the gunman, who was killed in a hail of police bullets, as an 18-year-old Austrian man but did not immediately comment on media reports that he was a known Islamist extremist.

German news site Spiegel Online and Austrian media said that he had been investigated last year for allegedly spreading Islamic State group propaganda, but that the case had been dropped.

While the motive was not yet known, Bavarian state premier Markus Soeder said "there is a terrible suspicion" the case was linked to Thursday's anniversary of the deadly 1972 attack on Israeli athletes at the Olympic Games in Munich by Palestinian militants.

Video footage published by German media showed dramatic scenes in which police commandos in body armour and helmets took cover from gunshots, then unleashed a barrage of bullets.

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