A massive manhunt for three gunmen was underway in Munich Friday night after a suspected terror attack on a city shopping mall left at least six people dead and an unknown number injured.
Police spokesman Peter Beck told reporters, “there are shooters on the run who are dangerous.” He added that the gunmen were armed with rifles and that Islamist terrorism was not suspected as a motive.
Munich’s transit system was shut down and police asked people to avoid public places. The U.S. Consulate in Munich echoed that warning, advising American citizens to “shelter in place”. Highways heading out of the city were closed and vehicle checkpoints were established.
“At the moment no culprit has been arrested,” Munich police said on social media. “The search is taking place at high speed.”
The attack took place on the fifth anniversary of attacks in Norway by far-right extremist Anders Behring Breivik, who killed 77 people in a gun and bomb attack on a Labour party retreat, as well as the center of Oslo.
Munich police spokesman Thomas Baumann advised attack started at a fast food restaurant in the mall shortly before 6 p.m. local time.
A video posted on social media showed one gunman opening fire on the sidewalk outside a McDonald’s restaurant across from the mall. Another video obtained by The Associated Press from German news agency NonstopNews showed two bodies with sheets draped over them not far from the restaurant.
BR reported that shops in the center of Munich had closed with customers inside.
“Many shots were fired, I can’t say how many but it’s been a lot,” an employee at the mall told NTV, according to Reuters. “All the people from outside came streaming into the store and I only saw one person on the ground who was so severely injured that he definitely didn’t survive.”
The mall is located in the northern part of Munich is not far from the city’s Olympic Stadium in the Moosach district of the Bavarian capital. It is also not far from where Palestinian attackers opened fire in the Olympic Village in 1972, killing 11 Israeli athletes.
It’s the second attack in Germany in less than a week. On Monday, a 17-year-old Afghan wounded four people in an ax-and-knife attack on a regional train near the Bavarian city of Wuerzburg, and another woman outside as he fled. All survived, although one man from the train remains in life-threatening condition. The attacker was shot and killed by police.
The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the train attack, but authorities have said the teen likely acted alone.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
