In terrorist attack in Munich, police kill armed man near Israeli consulate

According to German police, an armed man was shot dead in a terrorist attack near the Israeli consulate in downtown Munich on Thursday. The public prosecutor's office is investigating.

The suspect – an 18-year-old Austrian citizen – was armed with an older rifle with a bayonet attached when he was shot on Karolinenplatz, a square near the Israeli consulate and a Nazi documentation center, according to police in Munich.

The suspect was fatally injured in a shootout, the Munich police said in a post on X. Five officers were involved in the shooting, said police spokesman Andreas Franken.

At least 500 emergency services were called to the scene of the accident in downtown Munich, said Bavaria's Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann. According to Reuters, a helicopter was also deployed to assess the incident more precisely.

There are no indications that other suspects could be involved in the attack, police added. Authorities believe the attack was planned, Herrmann told reporters on Tuesday. The teenager had parked a car near the crime scene.

An unnamed eyewitness told German media that he heard several shots before police shot the suspect to the ground.

“I heard several shots and as a member of a shooting club I knew immediately that shots had been fired,” the 65-year-old told Bild newspaper. “It took several minutes before the first police officers appeared behind him. Then they shot at him at least 30 to 40 times. After that I just heard them screaming: 'He's lying on the ground, he's not moving.'”

Investigations ongoing

The suspect may have been under the influence of religious extremism, the Bavarian Attorney General's Office said on Tuesday after launching an investigation into the shooting.

“There are indications that the perpetrator was known in the Islamist environment. The investigation is ongoing, so we cannot say anything concrete at the moment,” said senior public prosecutor Florian Weinzierl on Thursday. The officers will check whether other people knew about the crime.

The suspect was already known to the police in February 2023 after he had dangerously threatened students and inflicted bodily harm on them, according to the Salzburg Police Department.

He was also accused of membership in a terrorist organization and of being active on the Internet. The teenager was also interested in explosives and weapons, the police department added. In April 2023, the Salzburg public prosecutor's office dropped all charges after investigations.

Authorities confirmed a weapons ban against the then 17-year-old, which will remain in effect until at least early 2028. He has not been reported to officials since then, the police authority added.

The incident occurred on the anniversary of the terrorist attack at the 1972 Munich Olympics, when a Palestinian militant group entered the Israeli national team's quarters. Eleven Israeli athletes were killed in the ensuing clash.

It is not clear whether Thursday's incident is linked to the 1972 events, but the nearby Israeli consulate was closed for a memorial service.

Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Söder warned that there was a “terrible suspicion” that the shooting was linked to the anniversary, but said further investigation was needed to determine the motive.

“The protection of Jewish institutions is of central importance to us,” he said at a press conference on Tuesday. “The motives and backgrounds of the perpetrators will certainly have to be clarified in the next few hours, but it is clear that there is a serious suspicion of a crime. Because today is the anniversary of the attack in Munich in 1972, there may be a connection.”

Talya Lador-Fresher, the Israeli Consul General in Munich, wrote on Facebook: “We are very grateful to the police in Munich for their actions and cooperation. This incident shows how dangerous the increasing anti-Semitism is. It is important that the public takes a stand against it. Our Consulate General was closed today to commemorate the 52nd anniversary of the terrorist attack at the Olympic Games.”

Chancellor Olaf Scholz condemned the terrorist attack on Thursday.

“To be clear: anti-Semitism and Islamism have no place in our country,” he said in a post on X. “The quick reaction of the emergency services in Munich may have prevented something terrible from happening today. I am very grateful to them for that.”

The incident occurred immediately following a polarising round of state elections in Germany – after the Alternative for Germany (AfD) became the first far-right party to win a state election in the country since the Nazi era on Sunday.

This story has been updated.

For more CNN news and newsletters, create an account at CNN.com