Cell phone footage from outside a McDonald’s restaurant shows the terrifying moment a man appears to open fire on Hanauer St. outside Munich’s Olympia Einkaufszentrum Shopping Centre Friday afternoon.
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The mall is not far from the Olympic stadium which hosted the 1972 summer Games and the athletes’ village, the site of the massacre of 11 Israeli athletes by the Palestinian Black September group. “Leave the street”, the Munich police tweet said.
Police have confirmed six deaths and several wounded at the Olympia mall and the attackers are still on the run.
In March, Islamic State-claimed suicide bomb attacks at Brussels airport and a city metro station left 32 people dead.
Munich police say suspected gunman in shooting attacks killed himself, may have been sole shooter, Reuters reported.
Dozens of police, special forces teams and ambulance poured into the area in the northern part of the city.
“It’s such a crowded city normally with streets full of holiday-makers, but tonight it’s quiet except for police sirens and helicopters overhead”.
Munich police said at least 10 people had been injured, adding: “Police operations are still running”.
The shooting is the second attack in Germany’s Bavaria region this week.
A shooting in a shopping centre in Munich, Germany has killed at least eight and wounded several others, some seriously.
Munich police chief Hubertus Andrae told a news conference early Saturday that the suspect was a dual citizen from Munich and his motive was still “fully unclear”. “We are seeing police in the distance”.
Facebook also activated its Safety Check feature, with which users in Munich can mark themselves as “safe”.
In Washington, President Barack Obama told a group of law enforcement officers at the White House that the United States is offering German authorities “all the support that they may need in dealing with these circumstances”, which he said remain murky.
Friday’s attack took place a week after a 17-year-old asylum-seeker wounded passengers on a German train in an ax rampage.
“The New Zealand Embassy in Berlin is in contact with German authorities to ascertain whether any New Zealanders have been caught up in the shootings”, the spokeswoman said, describing the attack as an “unfolding security situation”.
Britain stands ready to assist Germany after gunmen attacked a busy shopping mall in Munich, foreign minister Boris Johnson said on Friday.
“Our thoughts are with the victims of the attack, with their loved ones and also with the police who are defending freedom and security”. Gunfire also broke out inside the mall, witnesses said.
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The incidents in Germany follow an attack in Nice, France, on July 14 in which a Tunisian drove a truck into crowds celebrating Bastille Day, killing 84.
