According to Reuters, the shooter has been identified as an 18-year-old German-Iranian.
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Seven of the nine who were killed during the Friday evening rampage were themselves teens, officials announced.
-7:47 p.m. Police warn residents and visitors in German and English that the shooter’s whereabouts is unknown and tell them to avoid public places.
Munich police spokeman Peter Beck said officers were still collecting evidence at the scene of the crime, and were as yet unclear on a motive.
German investigators have established an “obvious link” between the Munich mall shooting and far-right Norwegian mass murderer Anders Breivik while ruling out any ties to the Islamic State group, police said Saturday.
The posting, sent from a young woman’s account, urged people to come to the centre at 4 pm, saying: “I’ll give you something if you want, but not too expensive”. Previous attacks in France and Germany were claimed by the Islamic State militant group.
“We wish them quick recovery and success in their dreams in the days ahead”, he said.
Which translates into: “At the moment we have a major police operation on OEZ”. “We suspect terrorism”, a Munich police spokesman told AFP.
Andrae said nearly sixteen people, including several children, were injured in the attack and three of them are in critical condition.
Police warned of an “acute terror” situation in the southern German city, which saw panicked shoppers fleeing the mall as armed police roamed the streets on the hunt for the attackers.
The police chief confirmed the identity of the gunman, who killed himself following the attack, as 18-year-old Ali Sonboly who had dual nationality and had lived in Germany for some time. Andrae said that their search did turn up documents linked to shooting rampages.
It was not immediately clear who carried out the attack, which comes a week after an axe-wielding teenager went on a rampage on a German train.
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They said that three “youngsters” were among the dead and that children were also injured.
