Gunman shot dead near Munich Nazi-era exhibit, Israel consulate

Police cars parked on a street next to the museum on the city’s Nazi-era history after police fired shots at a suspicious person near the Israeli Consulate and the museum in Munich, Germany.
| Photo Credit: AP

A gunman opened fire at German police before he was shot dead by officers Thursday (September 5, 2024) near Munich’s Nazi-era documentation centre and the Israeli consulate, the Bavarian State Interior Minister said.

“Police responded with armed force against the perpetrator, who was carrying a rifle and had fired a number of shots,” said the Minister, Joachim Herrmann, adding that the gunman had died of his wounds.

Mr. Herrmann said it was “obvious that the crime scene” near the documentation centre and the Israeli diplomatic mission “could provide further clues” about the gunman’s motive.

The Minister also pointed out that Thursday (September 5) marks “the 52nd anniversary of the terrible attack on the Israeli team during the Olympic Games” of 1972 at the hands of a Palestinian militant group.

Munich police wrote on social media platform X that, after the shooting, there were “no indications of any other suspects” and that no one else was wounded.

The Munich Documentation Center for the History of National Socialism is located on the site of the former Nazi party headquarters and close to Israel’s consulate in the southern German city.

A police helicopter was in the sky above the area and the sound of police sirens blared through the streets.

The Bild Daily showed pictures of armed police wearing helmets and body armour in the downtown area. Police advised the public that many police officers were “on their way to the site of operations in the area of the NS Documentation Centre”.

“To ensure that they can work without hindrance, we ask that you avoid this area as much as possible.”