Munich
gunman inspired by rightwing Breivik: police
Published: 23 Jul
2016 14:47 GMT+02:00
The lone teenager
who shot dead nine people in a gun rampage in Munich was "obsessed"
with mass killers such as Norwegian rightwing fanatic Anders Behring
Breivik and had no links to the Islamic State group, police said
Saturday.
Europe reacted in
shock to the third attack on the continent in just over a week, after
the black-clad gunman went on a shooting spree at a shopping centre
on Friday evening before turning the gun on himself.
"There is
absolutely no link to the Islamic State," Munich police chief
Hubertus Andrae said.
He said the assault
was a "classic act by a deranged person" and described an
individual "obsessed" with mass shootings.
He said German
investigators saw an "obvious link" between Friday's
killings and Breivik's massacre of 77 people in a bomb attack in Oslo
and a shooting rampage on the nearby island of Utoya exactly five
years earlier.
Most of the victims
in Friday's attack were foreigners.
Munich prosecutor
Thomas Steinkraus-Koch said the 18-year-old German-Iranian student -
named as David Ali Sonboly - had suffered depression, while media
reports said he had undergone psychiatric treatment.
The teenager had 300
rounds in a rucksack when he targeted the busy Olympia shopping mall,
just minutes away from the flat he shared with his family, according
to authorities.
Tributes for victims
Grieving Munich
residents laid roses and lit candles in memory of the victims, with
one placard bearing the simple plea: "Why?"
"Bloodbath in
Munich," was the headline on the best-selling Bild newspaper as
Germany struggled to come to terms with the killings.
Among the nine
killed were three Turks, three Kosovans and a Greek national,
according to their foreign ministries.
Most of the
casualties were young people aged 15 to 21, with three women among
the dead according to Munich police.
Sixteen people were
wounded, three of them critically.
Chancellor Angela
Merkel was to convene her security council on Saturday.
The attack sent
Germany's third largest city into lockdown as police launched a
massive operation to track down what had initially been thought to be
up to three assailants.
An amateur video
posted on social media appeared to show a man in black walking away
from a McDonald's fast foot outlet in Munich while firing repeatedly
with a handgun as people fled screaming.
A police patrol shot
and wounded him but he managed to escape before police found the body
of what they believed was the "only shooter."
'Never heard of
problems'
Sonboly is thought
to be have been born in Germany to an Iranian father who worked as a
taxi driver and a mother who worked at a department store.
Neighbour Delfye
Dalbi, 40, described him as "a good person" who "helped,
would share the newspapers".
"Not once did I
see him angry. I never heard of him having problems with the police
or other neighbours," she said.
Survivors described
terrifying scenes as shoppers rushed from the area, some carrying
children in their arms.
"We entered
McDonald's to eat... then there was panic, and people ran out,"
one woman told Bavarian television.
Another video
appeared to show the gunman on a car park roof in a heated exchange
with a man on a nearby balcony.
"I'm German, I
was born here," the assailant replied after the man fired off a
volley of swear words, including an insulting term for foreigners.
Munich's main train
station was evacuated and metro and bus transport suspended for
several hours while residents were ordered to stay inside, leaving
the streets largely deserted.
'Europe stands
united'
President Joachim
Gauck said he was horrified by the "murderous attack",
while US President Barack Obama voiced staunch support for
Washington's close ally.
"Our thoughts
are with the victims, their families, and all German people.
Europe stands
united," EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said.
Europe has been on
high alert for terrorism after a string of attacks in neighbouring
France and Belgium claimed by IS.
The attack came just
four days after a 17-year-old asylum seeker went on a rampage with an
axe and a knife on a train near Wuerzburg, also in Bavaria.
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