Munich shooter acted alone, say police
Published July 22, 2016
Police officers responding to a shooting at the Olympia Einkaufzentrum (OEZ) in Munich, Germany, July 22, 2016. (Joerg Koch/Getty Images)
BERLIN (JTA) — Munich Police President Hubertus Andrä announced at a news conference early Saturday morning that the apparently lone perpetrator of a shooting spree that killed 8 was an 18-year-old German of Iranian background.
The body of the suspect was found about a half-mile from the Olympia shopping center in the north-western suburb of Moosach.
The perpetrator fled the scene of the attack and apparently shot and killed himself. “We have no reason to believe that people should feel insecure or that they have to hole up,” Andrä said.
The shooter had no criminal record. He had lived at least two years in Munich; authorities would not say how long, although he is not a recent immigrant.
Officials are still not clear about his motives.
The victims have not been named publicly because not all have been identified and families have to be informed first.
The shooting took place at Munich’s Olympia-Einkaufszentrum shopping mall. The shooting began in a McDonald’s restaurant there shortly after 6 p.m. Friday.
The mall is adjacent to the Munich Olympic stadium, near where Palestinian terrorists took 11 Israeli athletes hostage and before killing them during the 1972 Olympic Games.
