- Police shot dead a suspect in downtown Munich.
- The man shot at police officers near the Israeli consulate, who shot back, said Bavarian Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann.
- Meanwhile, investigators believe that the 18-year-old perpetrator attempted a terrorist attack.
According to current information, the attack by the 18-year-old Austrian armed with a rifle is believed to have a “connection to the Consulate General of the State of Israel,” police and the Munich Public Prosecutor’s Office said.
As the Austrian news agency APA previously reported, the perpetrator was reported in Salzburg in spring 2023 for membership in a terrorist organization because propaganda material from the terrorist militia Islamic State (IS) was found on his cell phone. However, the proceedings have been discontinued.
A large police force was deployed near the Nazi Documentation Center and the Israeli Consulate General. According to police reports, officers used their service weapons and initially seriously injured the man. According to the Bavarian Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann, the suspect has since died. There is no indication of any other injuries.
Assessment by SRF’s extremism editor, Daniel Glaus
Open box
Box zuklappen
Once again a juvenile perpetrator. Once again hatred of Israel and Jews. Once again radicalized by Islamism. That is the first impression. Even if much is still unclear in the few hours after the attack, these indications are symptomatic of the increased threat of terrorism across Europe, which security authorities have been warning about for months. It is clear that Israeli institutions, synagogues and Jews have increasingly become targets for violent extremists.
The good news: The police acted quickly. With all the warnings and attacks in recent weeks and months, it is often overlooked that the authorities are always preventing something worse from happening. Before and during the Olympic Games in France, for example, there were at least three assassination plans.
“He deliberately shot at the police officers, who returned fire,” said Herrmann. According to a police spokesman, the man had a long gun with him. Five officers were involved in the exchange of fire, but there are no active acts of violence since then.
Possible connection with the 1972 Olympic attack
Now the background must be clarified, explained Interior Minister Herrmann. Because the crime scene was near the Nazi Documentation Center and the Israeli Consulate General, it is obvious that there could possibly be a connection with the 52nd anniversary of the “terrible attack” on the Israeli team at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich.
The German Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser (SPD) said that the incident in Munich was “a serious incident”. They are in contact with the emergency services, but do not want to speculate. “The protection of Israeli facilities is the highest priority,” says Faeser.
Bavaria’s Prime Minister Markus Söder spoke of a “terrible suspicion”. There may be a connection between the crime and the day commemorating the attack on the Israeli Olympic team in 1972. The protection of Jewish institutions is of central importance to him.
The police operation in Munich.
KEYSTONE/DPA/Peter Kneffel
No employees of the diplomatic mission were injured in the police operation. This was reported by the Israeli Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem in response to a request from the German Press Agency. The consulate was holding a memorial ceremony for the 1972 Munich Olympic attack, which is why it was closed.
Israel’s president appalled
Herzog was appalled by the incident. He thanked the German security services for their quick intervention, Herzog wrote on the X platform after a telephone conversation with German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier.
Herzog spoke of a “terrorist attack this morning near the Israeli consulate in Munich.” The background to the operation was initially unclear. “Together we are strong in the face of terror,” Israel’s president continued.
