Police say suspect was obsessed
MUNICH — The 18-year-old gunman who opened fire at a crowded Munich shopping mall and fast-food restaurant, killing nine people and wounding 16 others before killing himself, was obsessed with mass shootings, police said Saturday.
Investigators searched the unnamed German-Iranian man’s home overnight and found a considerable amount of literature about mass killings, including a book titled “Rampage in Head: Why Students Kill,” but no evidence that he was linked to extremist groups such as the Islamic State. They believe he acted alone.
“Documents were found about mass shootings,” Munich’s police chief Hubertus Andrae told reporters. “The perpetrator was obviously obsessed with the issue.”
Robert Heimberger, the head of Bavaria’s criminal police, said it appeared the shooter had hacked a Facebook account and sent a message inviting people to come to the mall for a free giveaway.
The posting, sent from a young woman’s account, urged people to come to the mall at 4 p.m. (1400 GMT), saying: “I’ll give you something if you want, but not too expensive.”
“It appears it was prepared by the suspect and then sent out,” Heimberger said. The woman shortly after reported that her account had been hacked.
Initial investigations suggest the Munich-born suspect had suffered from psychological problems and received treatment, but details were still being confirmed, said Munich prosecutor Thomas Steinkraus-Koch.
The attack in the Bavarian capital sparked a massive security operation as authorities — already on edge after the recent attacks in Wuerzburg and Nice, France — received witness reports of multiple shooters carrying rifles shortly before 6 p.m. (1600 GMT). Eight hours later police declared a “cautious all clear,” saying the suspect was among the 10 dead and that he had likely acted alone.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel was due to chair a meeting of her government’s security Cabinet Saturday.
At an address on Dachauer Strasse that was searched by police early Saturday, a neighbor described the suspect as “very quiet.”
“He only ever said ‘Hi’. His whole body language was of somebody who was very shy,” said Stephan, a coffee shop owner who would only give his first name.
“He never came into the cafe,” he added. “He was just a neighbor and took out the trash but never talked.”
Some 2,300 police from across Germany and neighboring Austria were scrambled in response to the attack, which happened less than a week after a 17-year-old Afghan asylum-seeker wounded five people in an ax-and-knife rampage that started on a regional train near the Bavarian city of Wuerzburg.
