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Munich shooter was American on holiday in Europe: report

The man who shot and critically injured a policewoman near Munich on Tuesday was a US citizen born in Bavaria, according to a US media report.

Published: 15 June 2017 14:53 CEST
Updated: 15 June 2017 16:06 CEST

Munich shooter was American on holiday in Europe: report

Police at Unterföhring station. Photo: DPA

Thirty-seven-year-old Alexander Bischof from the US state of Colorado has been identified as the shooter by various family members, broadcaster Denver7 reported on Wednesday.

On Tuesday a man shot a policewoman in the head after stealing her colleague's gun at Unterföhring station on the outskirts of Munich. Police have still not confirmed the identity of the attacker in the assault that also left two bystanders injured with bullet wounds.

The Local could not reach the Munich police department for comment on the shooter's identity.

SEE ALSO: Several injured after shooting in Munich area

The shooter is currently in a secure psychiatric unit after being apprehended shortly after fleeing the scene. Prosecutors have charged him with attempted murder.

According to Denver7, Bischof had arrived in Munich from Athens on Monday evening as part of a trip around Europe. He slept in Munich airport before travelling on the S8 metro line into the city on Tuesday morning.

Eyewitnesses have described how he was acting in an unusual way and talking to himself on the train.

He then suddenly, and without apparent cause, punched a commuter in the face who had just entered the carriage. Other passengers intervened, while the police were also alerted.

At Unterföhring station, two officers detained the suspect and took down his details in a routine manner, according to police chief Hubertus Andrä.

But then the suspect attempted to push the male officer in front of an oncoming train. In the ensuing scuffle, the man stole the officer’s gun and fired several shots at his female colleague, with one bullet wounding her in the head.

The 26-year-old officer remained in a critical condition in hospital on Thursday afternoon.

Nine face trial in Germany for alleged far-right coup plot

Nine suspected participants in the coup plot will take the stand in the first set of proceedings to open in the sprawling court case, split among three courts in three cities.

The suspects are accused of having participated in the “military arm” of the organisation led by the minor aristocrat and businessman Prince Heinrich XIII Reuss.

The alleged plot is the most high-profile recent case of far-right violence, which officials say has grown to become the biggest extremist threat in Germany.

The organisation led by Reuss was an eclectic mix of characters and included, among others, a former special forces soldier, a former far-right MP, an astrologer, and a well-known chef.

Reuss, along with other suspected senior members of the group, will face trial in the second of the three cases, in Frankfurt in late May.

The group aimed to install him as head of state after its planned takeover.

Heinrich XIII arrested at his home following a raid in 2022.

Heinrich XIII arrested at his home following a raid in 2022. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Boris Roessler

The alleged plotters espoused a mix of “conspiracy myths” drawn from the global QAnon movement and the German Reichsbûrger (Citizens of the Reich) scene, according to prosecutors.

The Reichsbürger movement includes right-wing extremists and gun enthusiasts who reject the legitimacy of the modern German republic.

Its followers generally believe in the continued existence of the pre-World War I German Reich, or empire, under a monarchy, and several groups have declared their own states.

Such Reichsbürger groups were driven by “hatred of our democracy”, Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said in Berlin on Sunday.

“We will continue our tough approach until we have fully exposed and dismantled militant ‘Reichsbürger’ structures,” she added.

READ ALSO: Who was involved in the alleged plot to overthrow German democracy?

‘Treasonous undertaking’

According to investigators, Reuss’s group shared a belief that Germany was run by members of a “deep state” and that the country could be liberated with the help of a secret international alliance.

The nine men to stand trial in Stuttgart are accused by prosecutors of preparing a “treasonous undertaking” as part of the Reichsbürger plot.

As part of the group, they are alleged to have aimed to “forcibly eliminate the existing state order” and replace it with their own institutions.

The members of the military arm were tasked with establishing, supplying and recruiting new members for “territorial defence companies”, according to prosecutors.

Among the accused are a special forces soldier, identified only as Andreas M. in line with privacy laws, who is said to have used his access to scout out army barracks.

Others were allegedly responsible for the group’s IT systems or were tasked with liaising with the fictitious underground “alliance”, which they thought would rally to the plotters’ aid when the coup was launched.

The nine include Alexander Q., who is accused by federal prosecutors of acting as the group’s propagandist, spreading conspiracy theories via the Telegram messaging app.

Two of the defendants, Markus L. and Ralf S., are accused of weapons offences in addition to the charge of treason.

Markus L. is also accused of attempted murder for allegedly turning an assault rifle on police and injuring two officers during a raid at his address in March 2023.

Police swooped in to arrest most of the group in raids across Germany in December 2022 and the charges were brought at the end of last year.

Three-part trial

Proceedings in Stuttgart are set to continue until early 2025.

In all, 26 people are accused in the huge case against the extremist network, with trials also set to open in Munich and Frankfurt.

Reuss will stand trial in Frankfurt from May 21st, alongside another ringleader, an ex-army officer identified as Ruediger v.P., and a former MP for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, Birgit Malsack-Winkemann.

The Reichsbürger group had allegedly organised a “council” to take charge after their planned putsch, with officials warning preparations were at an advanced stage.

The alleged plotters had resources amounting to 500,000 euros ($536,000) and a “massive arsenal of weapons”, according to federal prosecutors.

Long dismissed as malcontents and oddballs, believers in Reichsbuerger-type conspiracies have become increasingly radicalised in recent years and are seen as a growing security threat.

Earlier this month, police charged a new suspect in relation to another coup plot.

The plotters, frustrated with pandemic-era restrictions, planned to kidnap the German health minister, according to investigators.

Five other suspected co-conspirators in that plot went on trial in Koblenz last May.

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