Emrah I., an 18-year-old Austrian with Bosnian roots, was killed in a shootout with Munich police. Authorities suspect he planned an attack on the Israeli Consulate with an an old long gun with a bayonet attached to it. Investigations into his motives continue.
The man killed in a shootout with police in Munich on Thursday has been identified as Emrah I., an 18-year-old Austrian national with Bosnian roots. The car he drove to the crime scene had a Salzburg license plate.
Investigators are still looking his motives but authorities believe he was planning an attack on the Israeli Consulate on the anniversary of the attack on the 1972 Munich Olympics.
As soon as the shooting started, some 500 police officers were mobilised in the area near the consulate. A police helicopter also circled over the scene and people were asked to avoid the area via the social media platform X.
According to reports, Emrah I. was carrying a long gun, an antique Mauser carbine with a bayonet attached to it. When police opened fire, the young man was fatally wounded. No one else was hurt.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry said the consulate in Munich was closed when the shooting occurred. Diplomats and employees were out of the office to attend a memorial commemorating the anniversary of the Munich Olympics attack.
A suspected IS connection
Investigators believe the shooter might have had connections with the Islamic State (IS) group and that this was an attempted terrorist attack. In 2023, he was reported on suspicion of membership to a terrorist organisation and spreading IS propaganda.
Austrian authorities had found propaganda material on his cell phone after the teenager became violent towards fellow students at his school. However, the public prosecutor’s office closed the case.
The incident comes on the 52nd anniversary of the attack by Palestinian militants on the Israeli delegation at the 1972 Munich Olympics, which ended with the death of 11 Israeli team members, a West German police officer and five of the assailants.
