German police have shot dead a gunman outside the Israeli consulate in Munich on the anniversary of the 1972 Olympic attack. The motive is still unclear.

German police shot dead a gunman who opened fire on them outside the Israeli consulate in Munich on Thursday, the anniversary of the 1972 Olympic hostage crisis.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog expressed “horror” at what he called a “terrorist attack” near a diplomatic mission and a Nazi-era historical exhibit.

The shootout caused panic and a large-scale police blockade of the center of the Bavarian capital, not far from the Documentation Center for the History of National Socialism.

“The police used armed force against the perpetrator, who was armed with a rifle and fired several shots,” said Bavarian Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann. The shooter died from his injuries.

“Now it is necessary to establish the identity of the suspect, as well as his motives,” Herrmann added.

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He said it was “clear that the crime scene” near the Israeli diplomatic mission and documentation center “could provide additional clues” about the shooter's motives.

Herrmann noted that Thursday marks “52 years since the horrific attack on the Israeli team during the 1972 Olympics by a Palestinian militant group.

According to the Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper, a memorial service for the victims of the hostage taking in Fürstenfeldbruck, where Israeli athletes were shot, has been cancelled.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog wrote on the social network X (formerly Twitter): “I just spoke with the President of Germany, my dear friend Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

“Together we expressed our common condemnation and horror at the terrorist attack that took place this morning near the Israeli consulate in Munich.”

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The place where the gunman shot is 'bitter to swallow'

The shooting shortly after 9:00 a.m. (07:00 GMT) sent fear through the city center, with residents and office workers isolated as police moved into the city, sirens blaring and a police helicopter circling overhead.

Munich police wrote on the X website that there was “no sign of any other suspects” after the shooting and that no one else was injured.

According to them, the criminal used an antique long-barreled weapon.

Federal Interior Minister Nancy Feiser called the incident a “serious incident.”

She added that its location was a “bitter pill to swallow,” stressing that “the protection of Jewish and Israeli institutions is of the highest priority.”

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Since the war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip began following the October 7 attack, many Jewish communities around the world have been subject to hate crimes and attacks.

This is of particular concern in Germany, which has committed itself to continued support for Israel and Jewish life since World War II and the Holocaust.

According to German domestic intelligence, a record number of anti-Semitic crimes were recorded in 2023 – 5,164, compared to 2,641 in 2022.

The Central Council of Jews in Germany estimates that there are about 100,000 practicing Jews and about 100 synagogues in the country.

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