Munich : At least nine people were killed and 21 others hurt Friday in a shooting rampage at a busy shopping district in Munich, Germany, police said.
Police searched for attackers, thinking there might be three, and found a man who had killed himself on a side street near Olympia shopping mall, police Chief Hubertus Andrae said.
Based on surveillance video and witness statements, police concluded he was the sole gunman, Andrae said.
The unidentified attacker was an 18-year-old German-Iranian who had lived in Munich for at least two years.
The man was not known to police and his motives are unclear, authorities said. No group has claimed responsibility.
Many children were among the casualties. Police said 16 people remain hospitalized.
The shooting comes as recent terrorist attacks have put Europe on high alert.
This week, a teenager who said he was inspired by ISIS stabbed passengers on a German train before police shot him dead. Eight days earlier, 84 people were killed when a man drove a large truck through a crowd celebrating Bastille Day in Nice, France.
The gunman in Munich started shooting at a McDonald’s across from the Olympia mall around 5:50 p.m. (11:50 a.m. ET), Andrae said.
A witness who wanted to be identified only her son was in the bathroom with a shooter at the restaurant.
“That’s where he loaded his weapon,” she said. “I hear like an alarm and boom, boom, boom … and he’s still killing the children. The children were sitting to eat. They can’t run.”
Lauretta said she heard the gunman say, “Allahu Akbar,” or “God is great” in Arabic. “I know this because I’m Muslim. I hear this and I only cry.”
The gunman moved across the street to the mall, which is adjacent to the site of the 1972 Olympics. Located in a middle-class neighborhood in northern Munich, the shopping mall is the city’s biggest and a popular destination for shoppers on Friday nights, German lawmaker.
Lynn Stein, who said she works at the Jack Wolfskin store in the mall, said she heard several shots.
“People were very confused, and they were running and they were screaming,” she said. She saw someone lying on the floor of a store who appeared to be either dead or injured. “There’s a woman over them, crying.” (Agencies)
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