Munich Shooting Live Updates: ‘Several’ Reported Dead After Mall Incident In Germany

UPDATE: 6:00 a.m. EDT — The teen gunman who opened fire near a Munich shopping mall did not have links to the Islamic State group, also known as ISIS, Munich police chief Hubertus Andrae said Saturday at a press conference. The attacker, an 18-year-old German-Iranian, acted alone and was not a refugee, Andrae added.

According to the police chief, the attacker had an unlicensed 2-mm weapon, identified as a Glock-17 semi-automatic pistol, and about 300 rounds in his bag. Authorities said the gunman was under psychiatric and medical care, and was not politically motivated. He had a gunshot wound on his head, leading the police to assume he committed suicide.

The attack on Friday left 10 people, including the gunman, dead and 27 injured. The dead — aged between 15 and 45 — include three females and seven males.

UPDATE: 4:31 a.m. EDT — Germany’s Bild newspaper reported that the father of the gunman of Friday’s shooting in Munich is being interviewed by police. The attacker, identified as an 18-year-old German-Iranian, lived in Maxvorstadt borough of the Bavarian capital and forensic teams are searching the apartment where he lived with his parents.

According to Spiegel Online, a German news website, the gunman has been identified as David S., but this has yet to be confirmed by officials.

Meanwhile, Iran and Russia condemned the attack which claimed the lives of 10 people, including the gunman. Russian President Vladimir Putin sent condolences to German Chancellor Angela Merkel and to Horst Seehofer, the Minister President of Bavaria.

Iran’s foreign ministry called for a fight against terrorism. Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi said: “Today, fighting against terrorism, in any form and anywhere, is an urgent demand of the world community which should be taken into consideration by the whole international community.”

UPDATE 10:07 p.m. EDT — As many as 10 people have died as a result of Friday's shooting in Munich, but one of the dead may be the gunman, German authorities said. The uncertainty underscored the fact that police in Germany still had many unanswered questions about the sudden attack outside of a McDonalds restaurant near the Olympia-Einkaufszentrum shopping center.

Munich police chief Hubertus Andrae said that in addition to the increased death toll, there were 21 people hospitalized with injuries, two of them critically, according to CNN. Children and young adults were among the injured, the Associated Press reported.

So far, law enforcement believes the shooting was committed by just one person, who ultimately turned the gun on himself.

The gunman, who was not immediately identified y name, told at least one witness during a bizarre, post-shooting moment that he was a German, Sky News reported. He was apparently compelled to announce his citizenship after a man on a balcony yelled at the gunman, "F------ foreigners!"

The gunman responded curtly, "I am German."

In doing so, the shooter effectively quashed some suspicions that the attack was launched in the name of radical Islam, although the gunman may very well have been radicalized as well as a Muslim.

More news began to emerge a out the gunman, who authorities said was a local teenage adult, Al Jazeera reported. "The perpetrator was an 18-year-old German-Iranian from Munich," police chief Hubertus Andrae said. He had been living in Munich for more than two years. It was immediately unclear where he lived prior to the shooting.

In a new development, Munich police were probing the idea that the gunman lured people to the McDonalds with a fake Facebook ad that promised free food at McDonalds, the Daily Mail reported.

UPDATE 8:00 p.m. EDT — German police say at least eight people were killed in the Munich mall attack, and that the gunman — who may have been acting alone — committed suicide.

UPDATE: 5:05 p.m. EDT — With the death toll now at eight, law enforcement officials are continuing to investigate the shooting at a Munich shopping center. There have been reports of gunfire at several locations and police swarmed a second location. German Chancellor Angela Merkel's chief of staff says the government does not yet know if the shooting was a terrorist attack. The chancellor has called a security meeting for Saturday morning, CNN reported.

UPDATE: 4:10 p.m. EDT — Police in Munich confirmed Friday on Twitter that six people had died in a shooting near the Olympia-Einkaufszentrum shopping center. They didn't yet know how many people had been injured, or where the suspects were. Authorities were sweeping the city and advising residents to avoid public places, according to Agence France Presse.

"We don't yet know exactly what's happening there, but obviously our hearts go out to those who may have been injured," ITV reported American President Barack Obama said at a news conference.

As the world waited for details, people around the world began to share cat photos on social media, like they did last year as law enforcement looked for suspects associated with the November Paris attacks. On Friday, the cat photos were not only meant to cheer people up but keep them from posting information about where authorities may be located in Munich as they hunted for the gunmen.

UPDATE: 2:55 p.m. EDT — Police continued to search for gunmen Friday in Munich as local media reported up to six dead in a "terror attack" near the Olympia-Einkaufszentrum shopping center, according to Deutsche Welle.

UPDATE: 2:17 p.m. EDT — Witnesses reported "three different people with guns" at the Munich shopping center where multiple people were reportedly injured Friday, the local police wrote on Facebook. The suspects were still at large as unconfirmed victim counts began to roll in and the investigation continued.

UPDATE: 2:05 p.m. EDT — The details of a shooting Friday at a major Munich mall were still unclear, but users on social media were already blaming German Chancellor Angela Merkel and the country's national refugee policy. Under Merkel's leadership last year, Germany took in more than 1 million people, many from Iraq and Syria, where the Islamic State group is based, Al-Jazeera reported.

The group, also known as ISIS, has taken responsibility for recent terrorist attacks in France and Belgium.

UPDATE: 1:51 p.m. EDT — Police in Munich were searching Friday for the suspect (or suspects) in a shooting near the Olympia-Einkaufszentrum shopping center, according to the verified Twitter account for the Polizei München. Authorities were still urging people to avoid public spaces and asking locals not to post photos of their locations as the situation unfolded.

UPDATE: 1:40 p.m. EDT — A spokesperson for the police in Munich told Reuters that officers "believe we are dealing with a shooting rampage." Facts were scarce, though Deutsche Welle reported police were still helping people out of the Olympia-Einkaufszentrum.

Meanwhile, a video was circulating on social media of a man standing outside a McDonald's and opening fire.

UPDATE: 1:20 p.m. EDT — Police in Munich tweeted Friday that people should avoid public places as they responded to a possible shooting at the Olympia-Einkaufszentrum shopping mall. Officials had confirmed on Twitter there were "several injuries," but whether there were casualties, and if so, how many, remained unclear.

The incident appeared to be ongoing.

"I heard several shots," mall worker Lynn Stein told CNN. "People started running. I went outside as well; more people running outside. I think I heard more shots. Then it sounded like he went to the parking house next to the mall — several shots there."

Original story:

Gunshots were fired Friday in a Munich shopping center, according to preliminary reports from German and international media. Reuters tweeted "several" people were dead, but Agence France Presse reported only one casualty.

The local branch of the Bavarian State Police tweeted that people should avoid the area around the Olympia-Einkaufszentrum, a mall in the 1.4-million person city. Train schedules have been paused, as well, AFP reported.