On Thursday, German police shot and killed a man who opened fire on them with a vintage rifle near the Israeli consulate in Munich, describing it as a foiled attempt on the diplomatic mission.Authorities identified the gunman, who was killed in a hail of police gunfire, as an 18-year-old Austrian, but did not immediately respond to media claims that he was a known Islamist fanatic.
According to German news website Spiegel Online and Austrian media, he was investigated last year for allegedly promoting propaganda for the Islamic State organization, but the matter was dismissed.
While the reason is unknown, Bavarian state governor Markus Soeder said “there is a terrible suspicion” that the case was tied to Thursday’s anniversary of Palestinian militants’ deadly attack on Israeli participants at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich.
The gunfire occurred at 9:00 a.m. (0700 GMT), prompting a huge mobilization of approximately 500 police officers in central Munich, where residents and office workers hid indoors as sirens wailed and a chopper soared overhead.
Video footage released by German media revealed dramatic scenes in which police commandos wearing body armor and helmets took shelter from gunshots before unleashing a hail of bullets.
According to police, five policemen fired at the man, who died on the spot with his weapon beside him – a rifle with a bayonet, as seen in images.
According to Bavarian state interior minister Joachim Herrmann, German officials were considering the incident as a “possible attack on an Israeli institution”.
Herrmann also mentioned that Thursday was “the 52nd anniversary of the terrible attack on the Israeli team during the Olympic Games” in 1972.
Eleven Israeli athletes and a German police officer were killed at the Games when gunmen from the Palestinian Black September organization came into the Olympic village and kidnapped them.
‘Horror at terror attack’
Israeli President Isaac Herzog wrote on X that he had spoken with his German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier.
“Together we expressed our shared condemnation and horror at the terror attack this morning near the Israeli consulate in Munich,” he said.
“On the day our brothers and sisters in Munich were set to stand in remembrance of our brave athletes murdered by terrorists 52 years ago, a hate-fuelled terrorist came and once again sought to murder innocent people.”
Herzog praised the German security agencies for their “quick action” and stated that “together, we stand strong in the face of terror.”
According to the Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper, a memorial service for the victims of the hostage situation at Fuerstenfeldbruck, where the Israeli athletes were shot, has been cancelled.
The exchange of gunfire triggered panic and a widespread police lockdown in the heart of the Bavarian state capital, near the Documentation Center for the History of National Socialism.
After securing the site, Munich police reported to X that there were “no indications of any other suspects” and that no one else had been injured.
Soeder, the state premier, thanked police and voiced relief.
“Munich held its breath for a time, there were moments of great fear about what could happen,” he said at a press conference.
“Luckily it turned out well in the end, no one was hurt and only the perpetrator was eliminated.”
He also stated that “the protection of Jewish institutions is of central importance to us”.
Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser had previously described it as a “serious incident” and said the location was a “bitter pill to swallow,” adding that “the protection of Jewish and Israeli institutions is of the highest priority.”
Since the beginning of Israel’s conflict with Hamas in Gaza following the October 7 incident, several Jewish communities around the world have been targeted in attacks and hate crimes.
This is especially concerning in Germany, which, following World War II and the Holocaust, has pledged unwavering support for Israel.
According to German internal intelligence, a record 5,164 anti-Semitic crimes were reported in 2023, up from 2,641 the previous year.
The Central Council of Jews in Germany estimates that the country has approximately 100,000 practicing Jews and 100 synagogues.