German police exchanged gunfire with an armed Islamist outside the Israeli consulate in Munich on Thursday, ultimately killing the gunman.
Police engaged the shooter at roughly 9 a.m. local time on Thursday, suspecting he was planning to attack the Israeli consulate. Authorities say he had a long rifle with a bayonet attached, and he returned fire when police engaged him. Police have yet to identify the gunman, but they say content on his phone suggests he was an Islamist.
The incident occurred on the anniversary of the massacre of Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics.
Authorities say the shooter was an 18-year-old Austrian national with Bosnian roots. No one aside from the gunman was injured in the shootout.
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“We have to assume that an attack on the Israeli Consulate possibly was planned early today,” Bavarian Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann, told reporters at the scene. “It’s obvious that, if someone parks here within sight of the Israeli Consulate … then starts shooting, it most probably isn’t a coincidence.”
Prosecutors and police later confirmed that they believe the assailant’s plan was “a terrorist attack” on the Israeli consulate.
Munich authorities say five police officers initially confronted the gunman and fatally wounded him. Police soon deployed an additional 500 officers to the area.
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Israel’s Foreign Ministry confirmed that none of its personnel were hurt in the incident, saying the consulate was closed due to a ceremony marking the 52nd anniversary of the Munich Olympic massacre.
The 1972 Olympics saw Palestinian terrorists kill 11 Israeli athletes and hold others hostage for days inside the Olympic village.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog said he spoke with German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier. He wrote on the social media platform X that “together we expressed our shared condemnation and horror” at the shooting.
The Associated Press contributed to this report