Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Bavarian police “may have prevented something terrible from happening today”, declaring in a post on X that “anti-Semitism and Islamism have no place here”.

Austrian police, who later raided his home, said the 18-year-old man, who had Bosnian roots, had been investigated last year for possible “terrorist” links on suspicion he had become “religiously radicalised”.

He had assaulted classmates and shown an online interest in explosives and weapons, they said, but prosecutors dropped the case in April 2023.

Bavarian state premier Markus Söder said “there is a terrible suspicion” the case was linked to Thursday’s anniversary of the deadly 1972 attack on Israeli athletes at the Olympic Games in Munich by Palestinian militants.

The shootout around 9 am sparked a mass mobilisation of about 500 police in downtown Munich, where residents and office workers huddled indoors as sirens wailed and a helicopter flew above.

Video footage published by German media showed dramatic scenes in which police commandos in body armour and helmets took cover from gunshots, then unleashed a barrage of bullets.

Police said five police officers fired at the man, who died on the spot with his weapon beside him – a rifle that pictures showed was fitted with a bayonet.

Munich police wrote on social media platform X that, after the shooting, there were “no indications of any other suspects” and that no one else was injured. 

German authorities were treating the incident as a “possible attack on an Israeli institution”, said Bavarian state interior minister Joachim Herrmann.

Herrmann also noted that Thursday marked “the 52nd anniversary of the terrible attack on the Israeli team during the Olympic Games” of 1972.

Eleven Israeli athletes and a German police officer were killed at the Games after gunmen from the Palestinian Black September group broke into the Olympic village and took them hostage.

Talya Lador-Fresher, Consul General of the State of Israel for Southern Germany, wrote on Facebook: “We are very grateful to the police forces in Munich for their actions and co-operation. This event shows how dangerous the rise in anti-Semitism is.

“It is important that the general public raise their voices against it. Our Consulate General was closed today to commemorate 52 years since the terrorist attack at the Olympic Games.”

The exchange of gunfire sparked panic and a widespread police lockdown in a central area of the Bavarian state capital, near the Documentation Center for the History of National Socialism.

A police helicopter was in the sky above the area and the sound of police sirens blared through the streets.

A resident told the Süddeutsche Zeitung (SZ) that they had heard shots and police sirens. SZ also obtained a video taken by a resident looking out of their window at the street below in which a series of rapid shots are heard.

Another eyewitness told Bild newspaper: “It took several minutes for the first police officers to come up behind him. They then shot at him at least 30 to 40 times. After that I only heard them shouting: ‘He’s lying on the ground, he’s not moving.'” 

According to reports, the man was pronounced dead at the scene at around 10.30 am.

The police called on people to avoid the area around Briennerstraße and Karolinenplatz. Traffic barriers were put in place. 

“Emergency services are on their way to the site…To ensure that they can work without hindrance, we ask that you avoid this area as much as possible,” the Munich Police said in an earlier statement on X.

Viele Einsatzkräfte sind auf der Anfahrt zur Einsatzörtlichkeit im Bereich des NS-Dokuzentrums.
Damit diese unbehindert arbeiten können, bitten wir, diesen Bereich großräumig zu meiden.

— Polizei München (@PolizeiMuenchen) September 5, 2024

In another post, they called on people to refrain from speculating or sharing misinformation, and said that as soon as information is confirmed they will share it publicly.

‘Moments of great fear’

Söder, the state premier, thanked police and voiced relief.

“Munich held its breath for a time, there were moments of great fear about what could happen,” he said at a press conference.

“Luckily it turned out well in the end, no one was hurt and only the perpetrator was eliminated.”

He also said that “the protection of Jewish institutions is of central importance to us”.

Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser had earlier called it a “serious incident” and said the location was a “bitter pill to swallow”, also noting that “the protection of Jewish and Israeli institutions is of the highest priority”.

Since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza after the October 7th attack, many Jewish communities worldwide have been targeted in attacks and hate crimes.

This is a special cause of concern in Germany, which in the aftermath of World War II and the Holocaust has committed itself to steadfast support for Israel.

A record number of 5,164 anti-Semitic crimes were recorded in 2023, up from 2,641 the year before, according to German internal intelligence.

The Central Council of Jews in Germany estimates that there are around 100,000 practising Jews in the country and around 100 synagogues.