An armed man was shot dead by police outside the Israeli embassy in Munich

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An armed man was shot dead by police outside the Israeli embassy in Munich
An armed man was shot dead by police outside the Israeli embassy in Munich

German Police have shot and killed a ‘suspicious person’ near Munich’s Nazi doumentation centre and the Israeli Consulate after he was spotted carrying a ‘long firearm’.

The unidentified person was detained, according to police. and later died in hospital from his injuries.

Video footage filmed from a nearby window showed people running away as numerous shots were fired, on the anniversary of the Munich Massacre.

Nearby, Israel’s consulate had been closed for a ceremony marking the murder of Israeli Olympic athletes in the city by Palestinian militants in 1972.

It was unclear whether the incident was in any way related to the anniversary.

Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said: ‘The protection of Jewish and Israeli institutions, as you know, is the highest priority.’

Munich police said: ‘Officers spotted a person who appeared to be carrying a firearm. The emergency services used their service weapons and the person was hit and injured. There are currently no reports of further injuries.’

But they did urge people to avoid the area, also near a museum documenting Germany’s Nazi dictatorship, in the city’s Maxvorstadt neighbourhood.

Police officers stand at a street after police fired shots at a suspicious person near the Israeli Consulate  qhiqqxihkiekinv

A large police cordon remains in place (Picture: AP)

Police officers stand next to their cars after police fired shots at a suspicious person near the Israeli Consulate and a museum on the city’s Nazi-era history in Munich, Germany, Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

Shots were fired and the suspect later died from his injuries (Picture: AP)

‘A major operation is currently underway in the area of Briennerstrasse and Karolinenplatz’, police said on X.

‘We have numerous emergency personnel on site. Further information will follow on this channel.

‘Many emergency services are on their way to the site of operations in the area of the NS Documentation Center.

‘To ensure that they can work without hindrance, we ask that you avoid this area as much as possible.

‘The helicopter in the air is on the move in connection with the operation at the NS Documentation Center.

‘With this tool we get a better overview of the current situation from the air.’

Police officers patrol after police fired shots at a suspicious person near the Israeli Consulate

The shots were fired on the anniversary of the Munich Massacre in 1972 (Picture: AP)

Police officers patrol the area near the shooting with an armoured vehicle

Armoured vehicles are now patrolling the area (Picture: AP)

Police vehicles parked in Munich near the Nazi Documentation Center and the Israeli Consulate General, with an obelisk in the background and tram tracks on the road.

No other injuries have been reported other than the ‘suspicious person’ shot by police (Picture: Simon Sachseder/dpa via AP)

Munich was the site of a terrorist attack on Israel’s Olympic team during the 1972 Olympics, the first time the games were hosted in Germany since 1936 under the Nazis.

That September 5, eight Palestinian militants from group called Black September infiltrated the Olympic Village disguised as athletes.

Wrestling coach Moshe Weinberg and weighlifter Yossef Romano were both shot dead while attempting to disarm the attackers.

Black September kidnapped nine others, holding them hostage in return for the release of 200 Palestinians from Israeli prisons, the release of two left-wing German militants, and an airplane to fly them to Cairo.

All hostages died in a botched rescue mission by West German police, also leaving five of the eight militants and one police officer dead.

James Smith

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