Germany: Munich shooter fired nine shots in 'terror attack'

An 18-year-old Austrian national fired a total of nine gunshots at the Israeli consulate, a Nazi-era museum and at armed officers before being shot by police in Munich on Thursday, officials confirmed.

Speaking to reporters in the southern German city on Friday, police chief Christian Huber said prosecutors were investigating a "terrorist attack related to the consulate of the State of Israel."

Huber said the man, who has since died of his injuries, had first fired two shots at the NS-Dokumentationszentrum, a documentation center and exhibition focused on the Third Reich, hitting the building's glass façade and main entrance.

He then fired two more shots at the neighboring Israeli consulate, hitting two glass windows, and attempted to gain access to the premises by climbing onto a parked car and over a fence, which he didn't manage.

Huber said one police officer and one female passer-by had suffered acoustic shocks from the shots, but that there were had been no further injuries.

Police considering 'Islamist' and 'antisemitic' motive

Given that the incident took place on the anniversary of the massacre of 11 Israeli athletes and coaches by Palestinian militants at the Munich Olympics in 1972, German investigators are not ruling out an Islamist and antisemitic motive.

Furthermore, Austrian authorities have said that the perpetrator, who is reported to have Balkan roots and who police say acted alone, was known to have been radicalized.

He was the subject of investigations a few years ago, said Guido Limmer, vice-president of the Bavarian State Office of Criminal Investigations, adding that investigators had found evidence of him carrying out mock executions in video games.

He was also found to be in possession of material linked to the Sunni Islamist group Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham, said public prosecutor Gabriele Tilmann.

What sort of weapon did the perpetrator use?

The rifle was said to be an historic Swiss army carbine which, despite having to be reloaded after every shot, was capable of "massive penetrative power." It was not a "decorative weapon," said Huber.

A weapons collector in Vienna said the perpetrator had purchased the rifle from him the day before for €350, plus a bayonet for €50 and around 50 rounds of ammunition.

Such rifles are rated by Austrian authorities as "category C." They are therefore freely available to purchase and must only be registered with the authorities up to six weeks later.

mf/jcg (AFP, KNA, dpa)

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