Ten dead, 21 injured in shooting at Munich shopping centre
Posted Jul 22, 2016 10:34 am.
Last Updated Jul 22, 2016 10:15 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
BERLIN – At least 10 people are dead, 21 others injured in Germany after a gunman opened fire at a mall.
Munich police spokeswoman Claudia Kuenzel tells The Associated Press there had been “several dead and wounded” in the shooting at Olympia Einkaufszentrum mall.
Earlier in the day there was a manhunt for three suspected shooters, but further investigation have led police to believe there was one gunman who killed himself.
Officers are only identifying the gunman as a 18-year-old Iranian from Munich, and believe he acted alone.
The Bavarian Interior Ministry says multiple people are hurt. Police spokesman Peter Beck says witnesses have reported seeing three shooters with “long guns.”
Munich police spokesman Thomas Baumann told German news agency DPA the attack started at a fast food restaurant in the mall shortly before 6 p.m. local time. Police say there were no long-barreled weapons used, and the gunman had a handgun.
Police are using the term “suspected terrorism” in connection with the shooting.
They are urging people to avoid public places. “The situation is still unclear,” they said on Twitter. Munich public transit operator MVG says all subway, bus and trolley cars have been shut down because of the police operation until further notice.
Hospitals in Munich, a city of 1.4 million people, have called in extra staff to prepare for the possibility of large numbers of wounded. Police responded in large numbers to the mall in the northern part of Munich, not far from the city’s Olympic Stadium in the Moosach district of the Bavarian capital.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the federal government is watching the situation closely.
It’s the second attack in Germany in less than a week. On Monday, a 17-year-old Afghan wounded four people in an axe-and-knife attack on a regional train near the Bavarian city of Wuerzburg, and another woman outside as he fled.
All survived, although one man from the train remains in life-threatening condition. The attacker was shot and killed by police.
The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the train attack, but authorities have said the teen likely acted alone.
