Another video posted online shows a gunman emerging from the door of the McDonald’s, raising what appears to be a pistol with both hands, and aiming at people on the sidewalk, firing as they flee in terror.
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A huge manhunt was launched following reports that up to three gunmen had been involved in the attack.
Police have described the shooting as an “acute terror attack”.
Public transportation was shut down after the shooting, and Munich police advised people to stay where they are. The all-clear was lifted once it was determined that the lone shooter was dead by his own hand.
The shopping mall is located next to the Olympic Stadium in the city where 11 Israeli athletes and coaches were murdered by the Black September Palestinian militant group during the Olympic Games in 1972.
All survived, although one man from the train remains in a life-threatening condition.
Police sign blocks the entrance to the main train station following shootings at a shopping mall earlier on July 22, 2016 in Munich.
Obama reacted to the shooting at a press conference today, stating, “It’s still an active situation, and Germany’s one of our closest allies, so we’re going to pledge all the support that they may need dealing with these circumstances”.
Police officers are pictured at the entrance of an appartment building following a shooting rampage at Olympia shopping mall in Munich.
Germany’s Interior Ministry said Munich police had set up a hotline for concerned citizens.
Police called on residents of Germany’s third-largest city to stay indoors, throwing the economic hub into lockdown.
► There have been no claims of responsibility and no arrests.
An employee in one of the stores at the mall spoke to Reuters by telephone and said people were still hiding. A Munich police spokesman said it was now believed likely that only one man was responsible for the shooting.
The violence happened just days after a teenage asylum seeker went on a rampage with an axe and a knife on a regional train in Germany on Monday, injuring five people, two of them critically.
Friday’s attack also comes after the bloody assault in the French city of Nice during Bastille Day celebrations when a Tunisian-French truck driver ploughed into crowds, leaving 84 dead.
Friday’s carnage came on the fifth anniversary of right-wing fanatic Anders Behring Breivik’s massacre in Norway that killed 77 people.
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In a statement, Mr Gauck said: “I am with all the victims in my thoughts and all those who are mourning or fearful for loved ones”.
