A gunman opened fire Thursday morning outside the Israeli consulate in Munich, Germany, on the 52nd anniversary of the murder of 11 members of Israel's delegation to the Munich Olympics in 1972 carried out by eight members of the Palestinian terror organization Black September. According to reports, the suspect in the shooting was killed. In a document published by a local journalist, the unusual sequence of shots was heard.
Documentation of the shooting at the Israeli consulate in Munich, Germany
Shortly before 10 a.m., the police said: "In the Karolinenplatz area, police officers fired shots at a suspicious person; the person was hit." There are currently no other suspects.
The interior minister for the German state of Bavaria later announced that the suspected gunman died at the scene.
The consulate was closed for a commemoration ceremony for the massacre of the Munich athletes, and no one from the consulate staff was injured in the incident, according to the Foreign Ministry.
Police reportedly launched a major operation following the gunshots, and called on people to avoid the area, Bild reported. Shortly before 10 a.m. local time, police announced that it had fired on a suspicious person and that "the person was hit," according to Bild.
German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said after the shooting that the protection of Israeli institutions is of the highest priority.
President Isaac Herzog issued a statement following the attack.
“I spoke now with President of Germany, my dear friend Frank-Walter Steinmeier. Together we expressed our shared condemnation and horror at the terror attack this morning near the Israeli consulate in Munich. On the day our brothers and sisters in Munich were set to stand in remembrance of our brave athletes murdered by terrorists 52 years ago, a hate-filled terrorist came and once again sought to murder innocent people," Herzog said.
"I want to thank the German security services for their swift action, and send my support to all those targeted. Together we stand strong in the face of terror. Together we will overcome,” he added.