Police are investigating a fake Facebook advert which offered free food at the McDonald’s where a gunman killed the first of his nine victims.
Munich was in lockdown for a major police operation around the city’s Olympic Park, after the 18-year-old Iranian opened fire at the fast food restaurant, before targeting shoppers in a busy mall in the district of Moosach.
The killer’s body has been found half a mile from the scene after he reportedly turned the gun on himself. Police now believe he may have acted alone, after they initially went in search of three gunmen yesterday.
And at a press conference at 2.30am local time today, Munich Police President Hubertus Andrae confirmed the force were probing a Facebook page which was offering free food at the McDonald’s at the same time the gunman began his shooting spree.
The shooter has been identified as a dual nationality German-Iranian, who has been living in Munich for more than two years.
A total of 21 people were taken to hospital as a result of the incident – three are fighting for their lives in critical condition and 13 are still receiving medical treatment.
Terrified shoppers were seen running for their lives from the Munich Olympia Shopping Centre after hearing gunshots.
Witnesses said that the gunman screamed ‘I’m German’ and ‘Allahu Akbar’ before shooting at children.
Police gave a ‘cautious all clear’ early this morning, more than seven hours after the attack began and brought much of the city to a standstill as all public transit systems were shut down amid a massive manhunt.
Mr Andrae said: ‘The perpetrator was an 18-year-old German-Iranian from Munich. The motive or explanation for this crime is completely unclear.’
The shooter was not previously known to police and there was no evidence of any links to terrorist organizations, Andrae said.
He added: ‘The question of terrorism or a rampage is tied to motive, and we don’t know the motive. ‘We can’t question the suspect so this is all a little more difficult.’
A woman named Loretta said she was in the McDonald’s when the man with a gun came out of a bathroom and began shooting.
She told CNN: ‘I come out of the toilet and I hear like an alarm, boom, boom, boom. He’s killing the children. The children were sitting to eat. They can’t run.’
Loretta said she had been in the bathroom at the same time as the shooter, with her eight-year-old son. She said the man yelled: ‘Allahu Akbar!’
A huge manhunt was launched across the city, including snipers in helicopters and 2,300 officers from Germany, Switzerland and Austria.
In unverified footage, a man with dark hair, wearing a black t-shirt and denim trousers, appears to take aim at people, including children, outside the McDonald’s restaurant near the Olympia-Einkaufszentrum metro station.
He raises his arms, apparently holding a shotgun, and appears to fire at people outside the restaurant, who can be seen running for cover.
The sound of multiple shots being fired can be heard as shoppers and passers-by run for cover. People were seen fleeing from the building in another video posted on social media.
In another video on social media a man can be heard yelling at suspect in the car park that he is a ‘w*****’ and an ‘a******e.’ And he yelled: ‘Put your gun down.’
The gunman, when he walks across the roof of the car park, shouts out: ‘I am a German!’
The man who is abusing him then shouts out; ‘You are a w*****!’ The gunman tells him to ‘shut your trap.’ Then he fires more shots and the rest of what is said is unintelligible.