Special forces in Munich after the attack

MUNICH — A 18-year-old German-Iranian gunman who apparently acted alone opened fire in a busy shopping mall in Munich on Friday evening, killing at least nine people in the third attack against civilians in Western Europe in eight days.

The pistol-wielding attacker, identified by Munich Police Chief Hubertus Andrae as a dual national, was later found dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound to his head.

Police, citing eyewitness accounts, had initially said they were looking for up to three suspects in the shooting attack at the Munich Olympia Shopping Centre that sent shoppers fleeing in panic and shut traffic across the city.

But authorities told a news conference early on Saturday the shooter was believed to have staged the attack alone, opening fire in a fast food restaurant before moving on to the mall.

Sixteen people, including several children, were injured in the attack and three were in critical condition, Andrae said.

There was no known motive for the shooting in Germany’s third largest city, which went into lockdown with transport halted and highways sealed off immediately after the attack.

It was the third major act of violence against civilians in Western Europe in eight days. Previous attacks in France and Germany were claimed by the ISIS militant group.

A police spokesman said there was no immediate indication that it was an Islamist attack but it was being treated as a terrorist incident.

Friday is also the fifth anniversary of the massacre by Anders Behring Breivik in Norway in which he killed 77 people. Breivik is a hero for far-right militants in Europe and America.

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said the motive for the attack was not yet clear.

“The motives for this abhorrent act have not yet been completely clarified – we still have contradictory clues,” Steinmeier said in a statement.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility but supporters of ISIS celebrated on social media.

Multiple deaths at shooting rampage in German shopping mall: police

“The Islamic state is expanding in Europe,” read one tweet.

Two witnesses told n-tv television that they saw a man dressed as Santa Claus walking away from the scene of the shooting with a crowd of people. One said the man had blonde hair, was not carrying a weapon but had a suitcase.

A video posted online, whose authenticity could not be confirmed, showed a man dressed in black outside a McDonalds by the roadside, drawing a handgun and shooting towards members of the public.

Witnesses had seen shooting both inside the mall and on nearby streets, police said.

Several hours after the shooting, police said it was unclear if the shooters were still in Munich. As night closed in, the streets of the city were largely deserted.

Thousands of people had been crowding the streets and squares in Munich’s city center in the afternoon, clinking glasses, eating sausages, and listening to bands at a beer festival.

The festival was meant to last until Sunday but was evacuated shortly after the attack.

Munich’s main railway station was evacuated. BR television said police had sealed off many highways north of Munich and people were told to leave them.

Friday’s attack took place a week after a 17-year-old asylum-seeker assaulted passengers on a German train with an ax. Bavarian police shot dead the teenager after he wounded four people from Hong Kong on the train and injured a local resident while fleeing.

German Justice Minister Heiko Maas told Bild newspaper’s Friday edition before the mall attack that there was “no reason to panic but it’s clear that Germany remains a possible target”.

The incidents in Germany follow an attack in Nice, France, on July 14 in which a Tunisian drove a truck into crowds celebrating Bastille Day, killing 84. Islamic State claimed responsibility for that attack.

The Munich assault was also reminiscent of Islamist militant attacks in a shopping mall in Nairobi, Kenya, in September 2013 and in Mumbai, India, in November 2008.

Norwegian Foreign Minister Borge Brende said on Twitter: “Horrible killings in Munich. Taking place on the same day as we mourn & remember the appalling terror that hit Norway so hard five years ago.”