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Gunman opens fire near Israeli consulate in Munich

Security forces arrested the shooter, but a major police operation is said to be underway

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Police officers secure the area around the Koenigsplatz square after a shooting near the building of the Documentation Centre for the History of National Socialism (NS-Dokumentationszentrum) in Munich, southern Germany, September 5 (Credit: PAULINE CURTET/AFP via Getty Images)

A gunman opened fire on Thursday near the Israeli consulate in Bavaria. German security personnel wounded and arrested the aggressor.

No other injuries were reported.

“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,” according to a statement released by the Israeli mission. “The shooter was neutralised 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.”

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.

German weekly 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.

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 any further details.

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

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.

This is a developing story.

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