Police in Munich have killed a suspect who opened fire on officers near the Israeli consulate. A large-scale police operation was underway in Munich after a man, allegedly carrying a "long" weapon, approached the Israeli Consulate General and fired at police, before being shot dead by officers, the Guardian reports.
The suspect is an Austrian citizen in his teens who recently arrived in Germany and lives in the vicinity of Salzburg, the Standard and Spiegel newspapers state, adding that he was known to the security services as an Islamist. Munich police declined to comment on the allegations and said they would not release information about the suspect.
The police spokesman said that the young man used an old rifle.
Witnesses said they heard gunshots shortly after 9 a.m. local time. The police spokesman confirmed these allegations, adding that there were no indications that other suspects were involved in the attack. According to the spokesman, the suspect was killed in an exchange of fire, in which five police officers participated.
Ronen Štajneke, a journalist from the Munich newspaper Zidojce Zeitung, published on the social network X a video of the shooting from his mobile phone, which he apparently recorded from his office.
The Israeli Consulate General and the nearby Nazi Documentation Center are under constant police protection, but have been under increased surveillance since the escalation of the conflict in the Middle East.
Local media were quick to point out that the incident occurred on the 52nd anniversary of the 1972 Munich Olympics attacks, when Palestinian terrorists killed two Israeli athletes and took nine others hostage, who later died in a failed rescue attempt. The terrorists then demanded the release of 200 prisoners from Israel, as well as members of the Bader-Meinhof terrorist group.
The police did not immediately connect the incident with the anniversary. There were no indications of other suspects or injured persons.
In a post on the X network, Israeli President Isak Herzog said he was horrified by what he called a terrorist attack.
"I have now spoken with the President of Germany, my dear friend Frank-Walter Steinmeier. Together we expressed our mutual condemnation and horror at the terrorist attack this morning near the Israeli consulate in Munich," Hercog wrote.
According to Israeli media, the consulate was closed at the time of the incident and staff were not present as a memorial ceremony for the Munich Olympics massacre was taking place at the same time.
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