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What's known so far about Munich Printer friendly page Print This
By Staff Writers, RT
RT.com
Saturday, Jul 23, 2016

[As of 01:00 EST July 23]

A screen grab taken from video footage shows police officers near the Olympia shopping mall following a shooting rampage in Munich, Germany July 22, 2016. © Reuters TV / Reuters

Police are still trying to reconstruct the course of events as new information keeps emerging after a shooting spree at a busy mall left nine people dead and injured almost two dozen others. Here is what we know so far.

Massacre location
The rampage took place at the Olympia mall, one of Munich’s biggest shopping centers, and at an adjacent McDonald’s at around 5:50pm local time on Friday. The gunman opened indiscriminate fire at city residents sending them running in panic. Shots were fired both inside the mall and on nearby streets, with disturbing footage showing the assailant firing at people in front of the fast food restaurant.

9 dead, at least 16 injured
The shooting left 9 people dead including one person who died in a hospital and the shooter himself. At least 16 others were injured, some critically, police spokesman Marcus da Gloria Martins said. All of the dead bodies were found in or around the Olympia mall.

Perpetrator’s identity
Although initial reports said at least three gunmen were at large, police later announced that only one shooter is most likely to have carried out the rampage. “We found a man who killed himself. We assume that he was the only shooter,” Munich police department announced.

The attacker was identified as an 18-year-old German-Iranian. There is a “high” probability the man was the only perpetrator.

Incomprehensible motives
The shooters motives “are still unclear” according to police, despite various speculation online ranging from nationalism to terrorism. While they say the incident was dubbed a terror attack, police said there was “no indication” of links to radicalism.

The investigation is focusing on the gunman's motives and his social circle to find out if the shooting was a lone-wolf attack, the police told TASS later on Saturday. The shooter's connection to any terror group is yet unconfirmed.

No organization immediately claimed responsibility for the shooting. However, Islamic State’s supporters have been reportedly celebrating online. Police warned against speculations about the attack.

Other facts
Following the incident Munich was placed under a state of emergency. The city went into lockdown and significant parts of the city’s transport systems were suspended. A special hotline has been set up for concerned citizens, Germany's Interior Ministry said. Citizens were urged to stay home.

Late Friday night police were examining the backpack on the dead man believed to be the only perpetrator for possible explosives which was found one kilometer (0.6 miles) away from the mall.

Police later said they also found a “dark gray medium-sized car” they believe belonged to the dead man, Focus Online reported.

At around 1:00am local time the all-clear was given for Munich city center and public transport operations were to restart.

Munich attack is the second attack in Germany in less than a week. On Monday a 17-year-old axe-wielding Afghan injured four people on a train near the Bavarian city of Wuerzburg and another woman outside while he was fleeing the scene.


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