Update: The shooter in the attack on a Munich shopping center is not believed to have ties to extremist groups like the Islamic State, The Associated Press reported on Saturday. Police said that they believe the attacker was prompted by an obsession with mass killings after investigators found a large amount of literature on the subject while searching the man’s bedroom.
Update: 11:35 p.m. EDT: Police found that the attacker, who shot himself, was an 18-year-old German-Iranian. He had lived in Munich for two years, CNN reports. The police have thus far refused to release his identity. The shooter's motives are unclear, and he was not a terror suspect, according to police.
21 were hurt Friday in addition to nine dead. 16 remain hospitalized, police say. Those casualties include "many children," CNN says. Apparently an angry exchange led to gunfire. "The exchange, recorded on two different camera phones, captured an intense conversation that ends in gunfire," CNN writes. "The man who appears to be a shooter said insulting things about Turks, did not espouse jihadist ideology and spoke with a German accent."
Update: 11:35 p.m. EDT: Police found that the attacker, who shot himself, was an 18-year-old German-Iranian. He had lived in Munich for two years, CNN reports. The police have thus far refused to release his identity. The shooter's motives are unclear, and he was not a terror suspect, according to police.
21 were hurt Friday in addition to nine dead. 16 remain hospitalized, police say. Those casualties include "many children," CNN says. Apparently an angry exchange led to gunfire. "The exchange, recorded on two different camera phones, captured an intense conversation that ends in gunfire," CNN writes. "The man who appears to be a shooter said insulting things about Turks, did not espouse jihadist ideology and spoke with a German accent."
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Update: 7:57 p.m. EDT: Police have raised the death toll to 10, which includes the body of the likely attacker, who apparently acted alone and appears to have killed himself, according to The Associated Press.
Update: 4:50 p.m. EDT: The death toll in the attack on a Munich shopping center has risen to nine, Munich police told The Associated Press. In a press conference, police spokesman Peter Beck said that several more were wounded, but could not confirm that number.
It is unknown if any of the attackers are among the dead.
Police called the shooting “suspected terrorism,” citing the nature of the attack. Members of Germany’s anti-terror force are en route to the site of the shooting. Authorities are still searching for up to three attackers, who they believe to be armed with rifles.
Update: 3:50 p.m. EDT: A police spokesperson confirmed that six people had been killed, with several more wounded in the attack on the Olympia shopping center, The Associated Press reported. Police also said in a press conference that, though they had conflicting information, they were looking for up to three perpetrators who were believed to still be in Munich. Police are continuing to warn residents to stay indoors and away from public places. In a press conference, President Obama said that “hearts [went] out” to those who may have been hurt in the attack, and said that America would pledge all the support that Germany may need in the aftermath, according to ABC News.
Update: 3:50 p.m. EDT: A police spokesperson confirmed that six people had been killed, with several more wounded in the attack on the Olympia shopping center, The Associated Press reported. Police also said in a press conference that, though they had conflicting information, they were looking for up to three perpetrators who were believed to still be in Munich. Police are continuing to warn residents to stay indoors and away from public places. In a press conference, President Obama said that “hearts [went] out” to those who may have been hurt in the attack, and said that America would pledge all the support that Germany may need in the aftermath, according to ABC News.
Update: 2:30 p.m. EDT: A police spokeswoman confirmed multiple deaths in the shooting, Reuters reports. Police told the news organization that they suspected terrorism in the attack.
Munich police are still looking for one or more suspects in the shooting at the Olympia shopping center, and are warning residents to stay out of public places. The main train station in Munich has been evacuated as authorities continue the search.
This story was originally published on July 22, 2016 at 1:30 p.m. EDT.
Shots have been fired at a shopping mall in Munich, the BBC reported on Friday afternoon.
At least one person is reported to have been killed in the shooting at the Olympia Einkaufszentrum shopping center, with an unknown number of others injured. The attack began shortly before 6 p.m. local time, at a McDonald's in the shopping center.
"We believe we are dealing with a shooting rampage," a police spokesperson told Reuters.
German police told the BBC that they believed they were dealing with multiple attackers. A security operation is underway, and the shopping center has been sealed off. Police in bulletproof jackets were seen closing off the area, and people inside the center are reportedly unable to leave.
On Twitter, police asked citizens to avoid the area. Public transportation has been shut down following the shooting.
The Associated Press reported that German police expect multiple deaths in the shooting.
This is a breaking news story. More information will be added as it becomes available.
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