MUNICH (AP) 鈥� Police in Munich exchanged fire with a gunman near the Israeli Consulate in Munich on Thursday, fatally wounding him. Authorities said he may have been planning to attack the consulate on the anniversary of the attack on the 1972 Munich Olympics.
No one else was hurt in the shootout shortly after 9 a.m.. in an area near the consulate and a museum on the city's Nazi-era history. Officers had been alerted to a person carrying a gun in the Karolinenplatz area, near downtown Munich, and returned fire when he shot at them. The suspect, who was carrying an old long gun with a bayonet attached to it, died at the scene.
Five officers were at the scene at the time the gunfire erupted. Police quickly deployed about 500 officers to the area.
Police said the gunman was an 18-year-old from Austria, but investigators were still looking into his motive. They didn't give further details on the suspect, who left a car near the scene.
鈥淲e have to assume that an attack on the Israeli Consulate possibly was planned early today," Bavaria's top security official, state Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann, told reporters at the scene. 鈥淚t's obvious that, if someone parks here within sight of the Israeli Consulate ... then starts shooting, it most probably isn't a coincidence.鈥�
Thursday was the 52nd anniversary of the on the Israeli delegation at the 1972 Munich Olympics, which ended with the , a West German police officer and five of the assailants.
鈥淭here may be a connection 鈥� that must be cleared up,鈥� Bavarian governor Markus S枚der said.
Police said there was no evidence of any more suspects connected to the incident.
Israel鈥檚 Foreign Ministry said the consulate was closed Thursday due to a memorial ceremony for the 1972 attack and none of its staff was hurt. The nearby , which opened in 2015 and explores the city鈥檚 past as the birthplace of the Nazi movement, also said all of its employees were unharmed.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog said he spoke with German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier. He wrote on the social media platform X that 鈥渢ogether we expressed our shared condemnation and horror鈥� at the shooting.
The head of Germany's main Jewish organization, Josef Schuster, said 鈥渢here could have been a catastrophe in Munich today鈥� and thanked police for intervening quickly.
S枚der and German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser reiterated their strong commitment to protecting Jewish and Israeli facilities.
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Moulson reported from Berlin. Associated Press writer Stefanie Dazio in Berlin contributed to this report.
Matthias Schrader And Geir Moulson, The Associated Press
