Saturday, July 23, 2016

What We Know About the Suspected Attacker Behind Munich's Mall Shooting

(Photo by ZUMA Press)

This article originally appeared on VICE Germany

A gunman killed nine people at the Olympia shopping mall in Munich, Germany on Friday evening, before he was found dead with a single gunshot wound to the head. Five of the nine victims have been described as "youths" in media reports and, according to Munich, police 27 people were injured – 10 of them severely. Among these was a 13-year-old boy. Peter Beck, Munich police spokesman, told the Associated Press that the attack left 16 people in need of treatment in hospital.

The alleged shooter was an 18-year-old German-Iranian male born in Munich, according to the police. At a press conference held late on Friday night, police chief Hubertus Andrä said investigations so far indicate the shooter killed himself after being shot and wounded by plainclothes officers.

Hours later, at a midday press conference on Saturday, the police said that the shooter – identified only as David S – had researched mass killings and didn't appear to have any political motivations behind his attack. The teen shooter was armed with a 9mm Glock pistol, according to police, and 300 bullets. "The events of last night make us speechless," Andrä said at the conference, "and our thoughts go out in particular to the victims."

According to the German newspaper Bild, police raided the Munich apartment he allegedly shared with his parents in the early hours. Police at Saturday's followup press conference confirmed that nothing in the shooter's room had been found to connect him to Islamic State. A search of the shooter's room had turned up a German-language book with the title A Mind to Run Amok: Why Students Kill, said police. Prosecutors also said the alleged perpetrator had been receiving psychiatric treatment, though this could not be confirmed with certainty yet.

Shots were reported fired at about 5.50PM CEST on Friday, at a McDonald's restaurant in the mall, in Munich's northern Moosach neighbourhood. The police responded quickly, cordoning off a large area around the mall. Police on Friday had warned of three possible suspects, but this information turned out to be false.

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