Thu. Jan 16th, 2025

ISRAEL has branded a shooting in Munich a “terror attack” after a gunman targeted cops near the Israeli consulate and a Nazi-era museum.

The shooter – shot dead by police at the scene – was an 18-year-old who travelled from Austria to Germany before the attack, local media reports.

APA police officer blocks a street during after the attack in Munich[/caption]

AFPRows of police vans and officers in Munich[/caption]

APArmed cops patrol near the scene on Thursday[/caption]

GettyA view of the apartments where members of the Israeli Olympic team were held hostage during the 1972 massacre[/caption]

Israeli President Isaac Herzog wrote on X today: “I spoke now with President of Germany, my dear friend Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

“Together we expressed our shared condemnation and horror at the terror attack this morning near the Israeli consulate in Munich.”

The suspect behind this morning’s attack died at the scene after exchanging fire with police.

Officers spotted someone carrying a “long gun” in the Karolinenplatz area in the city centre at around 9am.

The shooting happened on the 52nd anniversary of the Munich Olympic attacks – when Palestinian gunmen killed 11 Israeli athletes in 1972.

“Due to the intervention of the police, the perpetrator was stopped,” state Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann told press.

A police spokesperson in the Bavarian state capital said the man had a “long-barrelled gun” that proved to be an old rifle.

The gunman’s motivation is not immediately clear, but Herrmann said police would try to clarify whether it had any link to the anniversary.

The Israeli foreign ministry said the consulate was closed on Thursday for a commemoration of that massacre and no one from the consulate staff was injured in the incident.

The museum and research institute, which focuses on the history of Germany’s 1933-45 Nazi regime, is located near the Israeli consulate in Munich’s Maxvorstadt neighbourhood.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog said he had spoken to his German counterpart.

“We expressed our shared condemnation and horror at the terror attack this morning,” Herzog posted on X, adding that on the day of remembrance for the Olympics massacre, “a hate-fuelled terrorist came and once again sought to murder innocent people”.

AFPThe six Israeli Olympic team members who were killed in a terrorist attack in 1972[/caption]

AFPCops secure the scene around Koenigsplatz square after the shooting this morning[/caption]

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