This article is from the source 'nytimes' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/24/world/europe/munich-shooting-attack.html

The article has changed 8 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 1 Version 2
Teenager Who Killed 9 in Munich Was Troubled, but Had No Ties to Terrorist Groups Munich Killer Was Troubled, but Had No Terrorist Ties, Germany Says
(about 2 hours later)
MUNICH — The 18-year-old man who killed nine people and injured 27 others in a shooting rampage in Munich on Friday evening had material at home indicating an obsession with violent attacks, but he had no links to the Islamic State or any other organized groups, the German authorities said Saturday. MUNICH — The 18-year-old man who killed nine people and injured 27 others in a shooting rampage in Munich on Friday evening had material at home indicating a fixation with violent attacks, but he had no apparent links to the Islamic State or any other organized groups, the German authorities said Saturday.
Sketching out an initial profile of the killer, who was born in Germany and held dual German and Iranian citizenship, police and prosecutors said there was no evidence that his shooting rampage Friday evening at a McDonald’s and a nearby mall was driven by religion or the controversies surrounding immigration that have been flash points in German society and politics. Sketching out an initial profile of the killer, the police and prosecutors said there was no evidence that his rampage, at a McDonald’s and a nearby shopping mall, had been driven by religion or immigration, issues that have been contentious in Germany and across Europe.
They said a search of his home found newspaper articles on shootings in Germany and other violent attacks and the German edition of “Why Kids Kill: Inside the Minds of School Shooters,” a study by an American academic psychologist. The gunman had been treated for depression, they said. They said a search of his home found newspaper articles on police responses to other shooting rampages, as well as the German edition of “Why Kids Kill: Inside the Minds of School Shooters,” a study by an American academic psychologist.
The gunman was found dead hours after the attack, apparently having killed himself with a single shot to the head. He had a handgun and a backpack with 300 rounds of ammunition in it, police said. The authorities did not release his name, and said that he turned up in police records in 2010 and 2012 only as a victim, once having been bullied by three other young people and once having been robbed. The gunman, who was born and raised in Munich and held dual German and Iranian citizenship, killed himself with a single shot to the head, several hours after the attack began. He had a 9-millimeter Glock and a backpack with 300 rounds of ammunition in it. He had no criminal record, and turned up in police records in 2010 and 2012 only as a victim — once having been bullied by three other young people and once having been robbed. He had been treated for depression.
The nine people who died were mostly young: three were 14 years old, two were 15, and the others were 17, 19, 20 and 45. Three of the nine were female. All lived in the Munich area. Of the 27 people injured, 10 were in critical condition, including a 13-year-old boy. Police said they were investigating whether the gunman had specifically targeted young people. The authorities did not release his name, but he was identified by neighbors as Ali Sonboly, a student at a nearby public school. Some news reports identified him as David Ali Sonboly or Ali David Sonboly.
The attack on Friday occurred on the fifth anniversary of a massacre in Norway by Anders Behring Breivik, a right-wing extremist who killed 77 people in a bomb and shooting rampage. Asked about a possible link to the anniversary, the Munich police chief, Hubertus Andrä, said “this connection is obvious,” and said it was part of their investigation. “We must assume that he was aware of this attack,” Mr. Andrä said. The nine people who died were mostly young: Three were 14 years old, two were 15, and the others were 17, 19, 20 and 45. Three of the nine were female. All lived in the Munich area. Of the 27 people injured, 10 were in critical condition, including a 13-year-old boy.
The gunman used a 9mm Glock, but the serial number on the gun had been scratched off, complicating the authorities’ ability to trace the firearm, Robert Heimberger, the chief of the Bavarian State Criminal Police, said at a late morning news conference. He did not have a license to own a gun, as required by German law. The police were looking into reports that the gunman had hacked a Facebook account and promised food at an especially low price to lure people to the McDonald’s shortly before the first shootings. They were also investigating whether the gunman had targeted young people.
Around 3:30 a.m., the authorities raided a building where the teenager lived, with his parents and brother, in the Maxvorstadt neighborhood, which includes some of the city’s renowned art museums and is adjacent to the city’s historic center. They removed computer equipment, documents and other materials. Chancellor Angela Merkel, after meeting with top officials in Berlin, told the nation that the “night of horror” was traumatic for a Europe already reeling from attacks this month in Nice, France, and Würzburg, Germany.
Mr. Heimberger said the police were looking into reports that the shooter had hacked a Facebook account and promised food at an especially low price to lure people there shortly before the first shootings. “We are in deep and profound mourning for those who will never return to their families — the families, the siblings, the friends for whom everything will be void and empty today,” she said.
Munich, Germany’s third largest city, which had been put under a state of emergency after the shooting started just before 6 p.m. on Friday, began to return to normal on Saturday. Public transportation resumed, and streets were reopened. She said many Germans were understandably asking, “Am I secure? Am I safe?” when in public spaces, but she praised Germany’s security forces as “phenomenal” and said the cooperation between federal and Bavarian security forces was “seamless.” Munich, Germany’s third-largest city, is the capital of the southern state of Bavaria.
The situation was much calmer than on Friday evening, when local police officers reinforced by colleagues from other places in Bavaria, and an elite federal counterterrrorism unit flooded the city. At the height of the emergency, when the police believed — incorrectly, it turned out — that as many as three gunmen might be on the run, 2,300 police officers were deployed throughout the city. As of noon on Saturday, that number had gone down to 800 officers, including the criminal investigators working the case. The attack occurred on the fifth anniversary of a massacre in Norway by Anders Behring Breivik, a right-wing extremist who killed 77 people in a bombing and shooting rampage. Asked about a possible link, the Munich police chief, Hubertus Andrä, said that “this connection is obvious” and was part of the investigation. “We must assume that he was aware of this attack,” Chief Andrä said.
Thomas Steinkraus-Koch, the chief state’s attorney in Munich, said at the news conference on Saturday that his office was investigating the case, although it was being monitored by the federal prosecutor, based in Karlsruhe, who has jurisdiction over crimes like terrorism, espionage and war crimes. The serial number of the Glock had been scratched off, complicating the authorities’ ability to trace the firearm, said Robert Heimberger, the chief of the Bavarian State Criminal Police, at a late morning news conference. The teenager did not have a license to own a gun.
“We are assuming at the moment that we are talking about only one perpetrator, one perpetrator who committed suicide,” he said, adding: “We are in constant contact with the chief federal prosecutor, but as regards the material on rampages that we found, we are assuming that we are talking about a perpetrator without any political background, and hence the chief public prosecutor in Germany has so far declined to take over the investigation. But we are keeping an open mind.” Around 3:30 a.m., the authorities raided a building where the teenager lived with his parents and younger brother, in the Maxvorstadt neighborhood, which includes some of the city’s renowned art museums and is adjacent to the city’s historic center. They removed computer equipment, documents and other materials.
The family lives in a fifth-floor apartment, and the gunman’s father drives a taxi, neighbors said. “He was always nice, kind, helpful,” said a 14-year-old neighbor who attended the same school on Alfons Street as the attacker and asked to to be identified only by her first name, Safete. “He was polite and friendly.”
Safete said that she had seen the attacker at their apartment building around midday on Friday and that “he didn’t greet me, like he normally does.”
“He was focused on the papers he was holding,” she added. “He didn’t look up.”
Safete said the gunman had argued at one point with a schoolmate, “and said that he was going to go on a shooting rampage,” but added that she could not remember the name of the schoolmate or the date of the altercation.
Safete’s 15-year-old cousin, who gave her name as Majlinda and attends the same school, said the gunman had been bullied at his current school and a former one. “This has nothing to do with Islam,” she said. “It’s because he was bullied.”
The gunman opened fire around 5:50 p.m. on Friday at the McDonald’s — the shooting was captured on a video that has been circulated online — in the Moosach neighborhood, about four miles northwest of the city center. He then crossed the street into the Olympia Shopping Center and continued firing; most of the victims were found there.
The gunman then made his way onto the roof of an adjacent parking garage. There, he engaged in a shouting match with one or more people at a distance, with the expletive-filled exchange recorded on video. One of the bystanders fumed at “Turks,” and the gunman replied, “I am German,” “I was born here,” and “I grew up here in a Hartz IV area,” a reference to a tier of unemployment and welfare benefit — meaning that he was from the bottom rung of society.
Munich, which had been put under a state of emergency after the shooting started on Friday, began to return to normal on Saturday, although several parts of the city remained cordoned off. Public transportation resumed, and streets were reopened.
The situation was much calmer than on Friday evening, when local police officers reinforced by colleagues from other places in Bavaria and an elite federal counterterrorism unit flooded the city. At the height of the emergency, when the police believed — incorrectly, it turned out — that as many as three gunmen might be on the run, 2,300 officers were deployed throughout the city. As of noon on Saturday, that number had gone down to 800, including investigators working the case.
Thomas Steinkraus-Koch, the chief state’s attorney in Munich, said Saturday that his office was investigating the case, although it was being monitored by the federal prosecutor, based in Karlsruhe, who has jurisdiction over cases involving terrorism, espionage and war crimes.
“We are assuming at the moment that we are talking about only one perpetrator, one perpetrator who committed suicide,” he said.
The city’s mayor, Dieter Reiter, praised the police for “their outstanding performance,” and announced that Saturday was a day of mourning, with all scheduled festivities canceled. Flags in Germany were flown at half-staff.The city’s mayor, Dieter Reiter, praised the police for “their outstanding performance,” and announced that Saturday was a day of mourning, with all scheduled festivities canceled. Flags in Germany were flown at half-staff.
“These are difficult moments for Munich,” Mr. Reiter said. “I am impressed by the great helpfulness and solidarity of the people of Munich. We in our city stand by each other.” The fact that the authorities appeared to respond effectively to the attack should limit any political fallout, said Jacob Funk Kirkegaard, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington.
Chancellor Angela Merkel was convening key members of her cabinet and ranking security officials in Berlin on Saturday. “You would think the German people would be consoled by the fact that the law enforcement apparatus was available and ready to act,” he said.
Though Munich is known as open and fun-loving, Bavaria is politically conservative, and its leaders — including the premier, Horst Seehofer — have been at the forefront of criticism of Ms. Merkel’s policy of welcoming refugees. The Munich train station, which was evacuated Friday night, has been a major hub for Syrian refugees arriving in the country.
Klaus Hurrelmann, a professor of public health and education at the Hertie School of Governance in Berlin, who wrote the introduction to the German edition of the academic study found in the gunman’s room, said the book examined 10 school killers in the United States, finding that they had mental illness, had been exposed to violence and had access to weapons — all of which appear to be the case for the Munich teenager.
“It bears noting that the perpetrator had an academic book at his home,” Mr. Hurrelmann said. “He appears to have recognized a familiar suffering among the 10 men in the book, who were in a similar situation.”