Starwood Hotels locked down its six hotels in Munich, and increased security at all of its properties in Germany, the company said.
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Mr Andrae said it had not been determined whether the suspected gunman had a German identity card and the investigation was still under way. Reuters could not immediately confirm either report.
The Olympia-Einkaufszentrum shopping mall was being evacuated by police, but some employees and customers were still inside hours after the reports of the shooting began to emerge.
“We are telling the people of Munich there are shooters on the run who are unsafe”, he said.
It was the second attack in Germany in less than a week.
It is understood the attacker, wearing a red backpack, shot himself in the head following the shootings.
Friday is also the fifth anniversary of the massacre by Anders Behring Breivik in Norway in which he killed 77 people.
There was also some speculation the shootings were orchestrated by a far-right extremist group.
There have been no claims of responsibility and no arrests.
“Thank God, may God bring prosperity to our IS men”, read one tweet.
Witness Luan Zequiri told broadcaster n-tv that he heard the attacker yell an anti-foreigner slur and “there was a really loud scream”. “That’s where he loaded his weapon”, she said. Another video posted online showed a gunman emerging from the door of the McDonald’s, raising what appeared to be a pistol with both hands and aiming at people on the sidewalk, firing as they fled in terror.
He said there is no reason to believe the shooter had any accomplices. Thye were treating it as a terrorist incident. Witnesses said they saw three gunmen open fire with “long rifles”.
► Authorities declared a state of emergency in Munich, and police urged people to stay home or seek safety indoors.
NEW YORK (AP) – Attacks such as the one in a Munich shopping mall and at a nearby McDonald’s Friday may lead mall owners to increase their security or even persuade global brands to focus expansion plans on the USA rather than Europe. On Monday, a 17-year-old Afghan injured four people with an ax on a German train near Wuerzburg-Heidingsfeld before he was shot dead.
At least eight people died in the attacks, and several others were wounded. It’s located near a large BMW factory and is a popular destination for shoppers on Friday nights, German lawmaker Charles Huber told CNN. A truck plowed into a crowd of Bastille Day revelers in Nice, France, last week, killing more than 80 people.
In response to questions from reporters during a news conference, police said they had no information to link the attack to a radical Islamist group.
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Norwegian Foreign Minister Borge Brende said on Twiiter: “Horrible killings in Munich”. “The search is taking place at high speed”. In a statement, Kerry said, “We are in close contact with German officials and stand ready to provide any and all assistance requested by our close friend and ally Germany in this time of crisis”.
