By Hope James
The German Police, on Thursday, killed a gunman suspected to be an Islamist in a shootout near Israeli consulate, in Munich, Edum News reports.
The gunman is said to be an 18-year old Austrian, known to Austrian authorities as suspected Islamist, and had been reported to police last year for alleged membership in an extremist group, a spokesperson for Austria’s Interior Ministry in Vienna said.
The Police stated that the 18-year-old man fired shots from an old carbine rifle with a bayonet in Munich’s Maxvorstadt district, near both the consulate and a Nazi history museum, before being killed in a shootout with five officers.
The incident occurred on the anniversary of the 1972 attack at the Munich Olympics in which Palestinian militants killed 11 Israeli athletes.
Bavarian state Premier Markus Soeder, while speaking to journalists, stated that it is no coincidence that the incident happened on the day of the anniversary, noting that there might be a connection between the two. He however noted that investigations have begun into the incident.
In a statement Munich police described the incident as a terrorist attack with reference to the Israeli consulate, adding that the suspect’s motivation was one focus of the ongoing investigation.
The incident has prompted politicians to stress the importance of protecting Israeli sites in the country.
