Updated 10.45pm
NINE PEOPLE HAVE been killed in a shooting rampage at a shopping centre in the German city of Munich.
Three armed assailants are believed to have been involved in the shooting, a police spokesman said, citing witnesses. This number has still not been confirmed, however.
Police are using the term “suspected terrorism” in connection with the shooting.
The southern city was in lockdown after the shootings, which saw panicked shoppers fleeing the Olympia mall as armed anti-terror police roamed the streets in search of the assailants.
Police say that it is “too early” to say how many people have been injured in the attack which was carried out using a “pistol or handgun”.
“We are telling the people of Munich that there are shooters on the run that they are dangerous,” a police spokesperson said this evening.
One police spokesman said the body of a man had been found near the mall and investigators were trying to determine whether he was one of the assailants.
The incident took place at the Olympia-Einkaufszentrum shopping mall in the Moosach district. The shooting began in a restaurant and then continued shooting outside.
In a post on their Facebook page, Munich Police said witnesses told them they saw three people with guns. The incident was reported shortly before 6pm.
Police have said that there are reports of more gunfire in other locations in the city centre but that “rumours” are unconfirmed.
Police have said they are unsure of the location of the gunmen. They said “a major police operation” is underway which is the biggest undertaken by the force in 10 years.
They have told people to avoid the area. Munich’s main train station has been evacuated, and metro and bus transport suspended.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel will convene her security council tomorrow to address the deadly shooting rampage.
German President Joachim Gauck said he was “horrified” by the “murderous attack”, while Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere, who was on a flight to New York when the shooting began, will return to Germany.
US President Barack Obama and French counterpart Francois Hollande voiced their support for their close ally.
“Our hearts go out to those who may have been injured. It’s still an active situation, and Germany’s one of our closest allies, so we are going to pledge all the support that they may need in dealing with these circumstances,” Obama said.
Ireland’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Charlie Flanagan has said that there are no indications that any Irish citizens have been caught up in the shooting.
“I am horrified by the violence and loss of life that has occurred in Munich today,” he said in a statement this evening.
Our thoughts are with the families and loved ones of anyone affected by this horrific event, and we extend our deep condolences to the German people. My department is monitoring the situation and is in close contact with the Irish Embassy in Berlin.
Footage from outside the shopping centre appears to show a man coming out of a McDonald’s restaurant and opening fire.
Other footage shows a gunmen shouting ‘I am German, I was born here’ as he is shooting near a multi-story car park.
https://www.facebook.com/skynews/videos/1404841172863809/
Authorities have been on high alert since five people were stabbed by a teenage asylum seeker on a train in Bavaria on Monday.
Contains reporting from Rónán Duffy and © – AFP 2016
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