Police shoot armed suspected Islamist outside Israeli consulate at commemoration of Munich Olympics massacre

German police fired shots at an armed Islamist outside the Israeli consulate in Munich on Thursday, ultimately killing the shooter.

Police targeted the gunman around 9 a.m. local time on Thursday, suspecting he was planning to attack the Israeli consulate. Authorities said he was carrying a long gun with a bayonet attached and returned fire when police approached him. Police have not yet identified the gunman, but say the contents of his phone suggest he was an Islamist.

The incident took place on the anniversary of the massacre of Israeli athletes at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich.

According to authorities, the shooter was an 18-year-old Austrian with Bosnian roots. No one, except the shooter, was injured in the shooting.

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Police officers patrol after police shot at a suspicious person near the Israeli consulate and a museum on the city’s Nazi history in Munich, Germany, Thursday, September 5, 2024.

“We have to assume that an attack on the Israeli consulate was possibly planned early this morning,” Bavarian Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann told reporters at the scene. “It is clear that if someone parks here within sight of the Israeli consulate … and then starts shooting, it is most likely not a coincidence.”

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Prosecutors and police later confirmed they believed the attacker intended to carry out a “terrorist attack” on the Israeli consulate.

German authorities have deployed about 500 police officers around the Israeli consulate following Thursday’s shooting.

According to Munich authorities, five police officers initially confronted the gunman and fatally wounded him. Police soon sent another 500 officers to the area.

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The Israeli Foreign Ministry confirmed that no staff members were injured in the incident. The consulate was closed for a ceremony marking the 52nd anniversary of the Munich Olympics massacre.

During the 1972 Olympic Games, Palestinian terrorists murdered 11 Israeli athletes and held others hostage for days in the Olympic Village.

Police have not yet identified the shooter in Thursday’s attack.

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Israeli President Isaac Herzog said he had spoken to his German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier, writing on the social media platform X that “we expressed our shared condemnation and horror” over the shooting.

The Associated Press contributed to this report