A special police team has arrested the man believed to have sold a gun via the darknet to the teenager who shot and killed nine people at a shopping centre in Munich in July, local media report.
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Special force police officers stand guard at an entrance of the main train station, following a shooting rampage at the Olympia shopping mall in Munich, Germany July 22, 2016.
Authorities arrested the man, who was not named, in Marburg, about 65 miles north of Frankfurt, after contacting him on the so-called “dark net” and posing as buyers for an automatic weapon and another Glock 17 pistol for $9,021, it said.
After establishing the suspect’s transaction procedure through the internet and encrypted emails, investigators set up a fake deal for the purchase of a machine gun, pistol and ammunition.
Police detained the 31-year-old in the western city of Marburg on suspicion of selling the weapon to Munich killer David Ali Sonboly on the dark web.
Ali Sonboly, 18, murdered nine people and injured 35 during the rampage last month after using Facebook to lure people to a McDonald’s and then opening fire.
During the process, the unnamed suspected weapons dealer allegedly said he had supplied the Glock 17 pistol and ammunition to the Munich assault gunman, prosecutors said.
To date, there was no new evidence indicating that any other parties were involved in planning or executing the shooting, the Bavarian police said.
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The 62-year-old accountant had also been released.
