Munich shooting at Israeli Consulate, police suspect terror
Police and prosecutors said on Thursday afternoon that they were working on the assumption of an attempted terrorist attack near the Israeli Consulate in Munch earlier that morning.
"Currently at least we are working on the assumption of an attempted terrorist attack, also in connection with the Consulate General of Israel, although the focal point of the running investigations is the motivation of the suspect," Munich's police and public prosecutors' office said in a joint statment.
Bavaria's specialist counterterrorist unit had taken the lead in the investigations, they said.
Police in Munich initially reported a large operation in the city center near the Israeli Consulate, saying officers had shot and hit a suspicious individual, at around 9 a.m. on Thursday.
"Police officers fired shots at a suspicious person in the area of Karolinenplatz, the person was struck in this process," police said. "A wide area around the operation is sealed off." Police said a few hours after the incident that the man was an 18-year-old with Austrian citizenship but at that point did not comment on possible motives, saying investigations were ongoing.
"Third situation update: The suspect is an 18-year-old Austrian national and resident. The weapon he was carrying was an old carbine rifle with attached bayonet," police said, adding that he had driven to the area and parked a car nearby.
German and Austrian outlets Der Spiegel and Der Standard had also reported that he was already known to police because of Islamist connections.
Suspect fired on police, shot as they returned fire
"Police officers saw a person, who was apparently carrying a firearm," police said roughly an hour after their initial post. "The officers employed their service weapons, the person was hit and wounded."
Bavaria's Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann later said that the suspect had died of his wounds and that the suspect had fired shots at police first.
"He shot directly at the police officers, they returned fire," Herrmann said.
A police spokesman said that five officers had been involved in the exchange of fire, and that the man had been using a long-barreled weapon.
Videos circulating online, that DW was able to verify, showed a younger male carrying what appeared to be quite an old rifle fitted with a bayonet in the area before the exchange of fire with police.
The Consulate General of Israel in Munich is located on the Karolinenplatz roundabout, and a Nazi-era museum, the NS-Dokumentationszentrum, is next door.
Interior Minister Faeser thanks police in first response
German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser was asked about the case during a press conference on a different issue in Berlin on Thursday. She said she did not want to speculate too hastily but described it as a "serious incident."
She thanked Munich police for the response and told reporters that "the protection of Jewish and Israeli facilities, as you know, has the highest priority."
Israel's Foreign Ministry said the Munich Consulate was closed at the time, because of a memorial service on the anniversary of the attack on Israel's Olympic athletes during the 1972 Games in Munich. No employees were hurt amid the incident, it said.
Germany, like many countries in Europe, has been on alert about potential security risks around Israeli facilities amid the conflict in Gaza and the wider tensions in the Middle East since the October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel.
Bavarian state premier Söder: 'Munich briefly held its breath'
"Munich briefly held its breath today," Bavarian state premier Markus Söder said in Munich on Thursday. "Fortunately it turned out well in the end."
Söder stressed that the suspect's background and motivations still needed to be investigated, but he said there was the "terrible suspicion" of a connection between the incident and the memorial to the 1972 attack in the city that day.
"The security architecture worked," Söder said. "That's thanks to the good cooperation of the police and the public."
"For us it's clear, we will defend any attack with great determination. It is worth investing in our police and their equipment," he said. "There is a terrible suspicion on the motive of the attacker on the anniversary of the Olympic attack of 1972. We renew our promise of protection: the protection of Jewish life and of our state and its people have the highest priority for us."
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