Ten people have been confirmed dead and at least 10 injured after a gunman opened fire outside a McDonalds in Munich shopping mall, just before 6pm local time on Friday.
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“How does President Obama square his comments today about sun shining and birds singing and no one should be afraid with the Munich attack”, Gingrich tweeted.
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.
Police secure a street near to the scene of a shooting in Munich, Germany July 22, 2016.
US intelligence officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said initial reports from their German counterparts indicated no apparent link between the shooter and Islamic State or other militant groups.
Police are responding in large numbers. “Many killed. God bless the people of Munich”. Authorities were evacuating people from the Olympia mall but many were hiding inside.
Reports of shooting at the Marienplatz station in Munich also made rounds in the media. “We are urging people to stay indoors”.
Some videos show panicked people fleeing the area of the mall. The shopping centre is next to the Munich Olympic stadium, where the Palestinian militant group Black September took 11 Israeli athletes hostage and eventually killed them during the1972 Olympic Games.
► Munich, Germany’s third most populous city after Berlin and Hamburg, was placed in lock down, with the entire public transport system shut down after the attack.
The spree began before 1600 GMT at the McDonald’s and continued on a nearby street before at least one attacker moved into the Olympia centre – which lies not far from the scene of the 1972 Olympics massacre.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility but supporters of Islamic State celebrated the rampage on social media.
There had been a false alarm, police said, but authorities still weren’t sure what the situation was in the city centre.
Three armed assailants were involved in the shooting, said a police spokesman citing witnesses.
Gun attacks in Germany are uncommon.
Several highways north of Munich were also sealed off by police.
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Europe has been on alert for terrorism in the wake of a string of attacks in neighbouring France and Belgium claimed by the Islamic State jihadist group. “Taking place on the same day as we mourn & remember the appalling terror that hit Norway so hard five years ago”.
