Terror foiled: Police shoot Islamist suspect near Israeli consulate in Munich
6 September 2024 06:56
An 18-year-old Austrian citizen, fatally shot by the police on Thursday morning near the General Consulate of Israel in Munich, was known as an Islamist, as reported by the Austrian Ministry of the Interior. German officers believe the perpetrator intended to carry out a terrorist attack on the consulate.
On Thursday, around 8:00 AM GMT, in the area of Briennerstrasse and Karolinenplatz, near the Nazi Documentation Centre and not far from the General Consulate of Israel in central Munich, southern Germany, police officers noticed an armed man with a firearm.
There was an exchange of gunfire, during which the man was mortally wounded, as announced by the Bavarian police in a statement.
According to the authorities, the perpetrator had an older type of rifle with a bayonet.
The young Austrian was known as an Islamist
The police confirmed earlier media reports concerning the attacker's identity. The suspect is an 18-year-old Austrian citizen who was not registered in Germany and had no criminal or extremist records in the country. The "Die Welt" news portal highlighted that Austrian authorities had him "on the radar" and knew that he harboured intentions to carry out an attack.
The Austrian Ministry of the Interior confirmed that the armed man was known as an Islamist. Local police and the Bavarian Ministry of the Interior assume that the perpetrator planned a terrorist attack on the General Consulate of Israel in Munich, as reported by "Die Welt". Additionally, according to the police, the suspect had left a car near the scene of the incident, which he used to travel to Munich. It is unknown if there were any explosives in the vehicle.
The attacker likely planned an attack on the consulate, informed the Bavarian Minister of the Interior Joachim Hermann. The Austrian APA agency reported that the perpetrator has Bosnian roots. Data and a game were found on the young Austrian's mobile phone, indicating a connection to Islamist-terrorist ideologies, according to APA, as cited by "Die Welt". The German daily added that there is currently no information suggesting the man was involved in Islamist or jihadist structures.
The police reported in a statement that a special unit of the Munich prosecutor's office responsible for combating terrorism has taken over further investigation into the case.
German media linked Thursday's shooting in Munich to the anniversary of the 1972 terrorist attack on this exact day when, during the Munich Summer Olympics, 11 members of the Israeli team and a German policeman were killed by Palestinian terrorists.
