German police arrest a protester outside the Reichstag building in Berlin, Germany on May 16. PHOTO: EPA
A potential attack on the Israeli consulate in Munich was foiled on Thursday when German police fatally shot a gunman who opened fire on them with a vintage rifle.
The suspect, identified as an 18-year-old Austrian national, was killed in the ensuing shootout.
While authorities have not confirmed the gunman’s motives, media reports suggest he may have had extremist ties.
According to Spiegel Online and Austrian media, the individual was previously investigated for allegedly disseminating Islamic State propaganda in 2023, but the case was ultimately dropped.
The incident occurred near the Israeli consulate, prompting police to treat it as a foiled attack on the diplomatic mission.
While the motive was not yet known, Bavarian state premier Markus Soeder said “there is a terrible suspicion” the case was linked to Thursday’s anniversary of the deadly 1972 attack on Israeli athletes at the Olympic Games in Munich by Palestinian militants.
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The shootout around 9:00 am (0700 GMT) sparked a mass mobilisation of about 500 police in downtown Munich, where residents and office workers huddled indoors as sirens wailed and a helicopter flew above.
Video footage published by German media showed dramatic scenes in which police commandos in body armour and helmets took cover from gunshots, then unleashed a barrage of bullets.
Police said five police officers fired at the man, who died on the spot with his weapon beside him — a rifle that pictures showed was fitted with a bayonet.
German authorities were treating the incident as a “possible attack on an Israeli institution”, said Bavarian state interior minister Joachim Herrmann.
Herrmann also noted that Thursday marked “the 52nd anniversary of the terrible attack on the Israeli team during the Olympic Games” of 1972.
Eleven Israeli athletes and a German police officer were killed at the Games after gunmen from the Palestinian Black September group broke into the Olympic village and took them hostage.
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