Armed man shot dead near Israeli consulate and Nazi museum in Munich

According to a police spokesman, officers became aware of a person carrying a “long gun” in the area of ​​Karolinenplatz near Munich city center at around 9 a.m. on Thursday.

A shootout ensued in which the suspect suffered fatal injuries, but there was no indication that anyone else was injured, spokesman Andreas Franken told reporters.

There is no immediate information about the identity of the suspect or any motive, Franken said.

The man, who was carrying an old firearm with a repeating mechanism, died at the scene.

Thursday marked the 52nd anniversary of the attack by Palestinian militants on the Israeli delegation at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich. The attack killed 11 members of the Israeli team, a West German police officer and five of the attackers.

It remained unclear whether the incident had any connection to the anniversary.

According to police, there are no indications of other suspects in connection with the incident.

Although they have increased their presence in Germany's third-largest city, they said they had no information about incidents in other locations or about other suspects.

There were five officers on the scene at the time and following the shooting, police were dispatched to the area in large numbers.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry said the consulate in Munich was closed at the time of the shooting and that no consulate staff were injured.

The nearby museum also reported that all its employees were uninjured.

At an independent press conference in Berlin, German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser described Thursday's shooting as “a serious incident” but said she did not want to speculate about what happened.

She reiterated that “protecting Jewish and Israeli institutions is a top priority.”