Gunman opens fire near Israeli consulate in Munich

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An Islamist gunman opened fire on Thursday near the Israeli consulate in Bavaria. German security personnel shot the aggressor during an exchange of fire and the suspect died at the scene.

No other injuries were reported.

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Joachim Herrmann, interior minister for Bavaria, confirmed the suspect’s death. Authorities are treating the shooting as a “possible attack on an Israeli institution,” he told Agence France-Presse.

The Israeli mission released a statement saying, “A shooting incident occurred near the Israeli Consulate General in Munich. The consulate is closed today due to a memorial ceremony for the Munich Olympics massacre, and none of the consulate staff were harmed in the incident. The shooter was neutralized by German security forces, and the situation is under their control.”

Munich police tweeted that “police officers saw a person who appeared to be carrying a firearm. The officers used their service weapons and the person was hit and injured. There are currently no reports of any other injuries.”

Local media identified the suspect as an 18-year-old man from Austria who had been known to authorities as an Islamic extremist. Germany’s Der Spiegel, citing local police sources, said the suspect resided in the Salzburg region of Austria and traveled to Germany by car.

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The police said that there were no indications of other suspects or incidents in the Bavarian state capital.

Local law enforcement appealed to the public not to post images of the incident to social media.

Der Spiegel reported that a “major police operation” was underway in the area, which has been blocked off and closed to traffic.

The Documentation Centre for the History of National Socialism is also located close to where the incident took place.

Shortly after the attack, Israeli President Isaac Herzog spoke with his German counterpart and “dear friend” Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

“Together we expressed our shared condemnation and horror at the terror attack this morning near the Israeli consulate in Munich,” Herzog wrote on X.

“On the day our brothers and sisters in Munich were set to stand in remembrance of our brave athletes murdered by terrorists 52 years ago, a hate-filled terrorist came and once again sought to murder innocent people,” he continued.

“I want to thank the German security services for their swift action, and send my support to all those targeted. Together we stand strong in the face of terror. Together we will overcome,” Herzog said.

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German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser described the shooting as “a serious incident” and said that she is in contact with emergency services but did not want to speculate on further details.

She said that the protection of Israeli institutions in Germany was the highest priority.

Talya Lador Fresher, consul general to southern Germany, said, “We are grateful for the cooperation of the Munich police. An event like this shows how dangerous the rise in antisemitism is. It is important that the public raise its voice against it.”

The attack comes on the 52nd anniversary of the 1972 Munich Massacre, when eight gunmen from the Palestinian terrorist group Black September burst into the Israeli team’s Olympic village quarters, killing two Israelis and kidnapping nine. West German neo-Nazis gave the group logistical assistance.

All nine hostages, as well as eight terrorists and a German police officer, died during a botched rescue effort by West German police. The three surviving perpetrators were arrested and then released the next month in a hostage exchange that followed the hijacking of Lufthansa Flight 615.

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