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Munich gunman had no links to IS, had fascination with shooting rampages

The Cairo-based Al-Azhar, the highest seat of learning in the Sunni Muslim world, also denounced the shooting attack and offered condolences to families of the victims. Bavarian police shot dead the teenager after he wounded four people from Hong Kong on the train and injured a local resident while fleeing.

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Ghasemi also called for a “relentless and comprehensive fight” to eradicate violence.

Police continued their search of the apartment but have said nothing about a possible motive, with a press conference this morning likely to give first clues.

He declined to confirm reports by German daily Bild that officers had raided a home in the city’s Marxvorstadt district about 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) from the mall and were interviewing the suspect’s father, citing “ongoing police operations”. He adds that intelligence agencies had no information on him. German news magazine Focus said the man had shot himself in the head.

He said the city was safe to visit and that the attack wasn’t linked in any way to the recent influx of asylum-seekers that has stirred a debate about immigration in Germany.

“Such an evening and such a night is hard to bear”, she said of the Munich attack. “We can’t question the suspect so this is all a little more hard”. But the two attacks this week have re-opened Germany’s tense debate over Muslim immigration and the decision past year to admit some 1.1m asylum-seekers, which in previous months seemed to have died down. (Germany) will stand up to this.

“Germany will resist. It can count on France’s friendship and cooperation”.

Munich police investigator Robert Heimberger said it appears that the attacked hacked a Facebook account and sent a message urging people to come to the mall for a free giveaway. The Munich assault was also reminiscent of militant attacks in a shopping mall in Nairobi, Kenya, in 2013, and in Mumbai, India, in 2008.

Race director Christian Prudhomme joined the riders on the starting line in the ski resort of Megeve.

“It appears it was prepared by the suspect and then sent out”, Heimberger said.

There are reports he idolised Neo-Nazi mass murderer Anders Brevik, using the psycho’s picture on his social media accounts.

-7:20 p.m. Munich police say it’s not clear whether there are one or more shooters.

He opened fire with a Glock 17 handgun, carrying 300 rounds of ammo in his backpack, and brought the German city to its knees amid fears of a terrorist attack.

“Documents were found about mass shootings”, Munich’s police chief Hubertus Andrae told reporters.

“The investigations will be running on all cylinders through the night”, Mr Andrae said.

Police officers are on their way to search an appartment building following a shooting rampage at Olympia shopping mall in Munich, Germany July 23, 2016.

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Munich Mayor Dieter Reiter cancelled all events and festivities in the city, saying in a tweet: “Today is a day of mourning, not celebration”.

Police 'expecting multiple dead' after Munich shopping centre shooting