A teenage German-Iranian gunman has killed nine people in a shooting rampage at a busy Munich mall and then committed suicide with the German police saying today that he likely acted alone.
Nine people were killed and 16 wounded as the gunman brought terror to Germany's third largest city last evening, the third attack on civilians in Europe in eight days.
"Bloodbath in Munich," was the headline on the best-selling Bild newspaper as shockwaves reverberated across the continent.
The killing sent the southern city into lockdown as elite police launched a massive operation to track down what had initially been thought to be up to three assailants.
Chancellor Angela Merkel will convene her security council today to address the shooting, which came just days after an axe rampage on a train in the same German state of Bavaria and just over a week after a truck attack in the French Riviera city of Nice that killed 84 people.
"The perpetrator was an 18-year-old German-Iranian from Munich," police chief Hubertus Andrae told reporters, adding that he had no criminal record.
"The motive or explanation for this crime is completely unclear," he said.
A police spokesman had said earlier that terrorism was suspected, without revealing any immediate indications of an Islamist link.
Armed with a handgun, the attacker opened fire at a McDonald's restaurant and continued along the street before entering the mall.
Andrae said there were young people among the nine dead and that some of the 16 injured were children.
A police patrol had shot and wounded the gunman but he managed to escape, he said.
"We found a man who killed himself. We assume that he was the only shooter," police said on Twitter.
A video posted on social media appeared to show a man in black walking away from a McDonald's while firing repeatedly on people as they fled screaming.
Survivors described terrifying scenes as shoppers rushed from the area, some carrying children in their arms.
"We entered McDonald's to eat... Then there was panic, and people ran out," one woman told Bavarian television.
Another video appeared to show the gunman on a car park roof exchanging a tirade of insults with a man on a nearby balcony.
"I'm German, I was born here," the assailant replies after the man fired off a volley of swear words, including an offensive term for foreigners.
Police initially believed there could be up to three assailants.
But Andrae later said two others had "absolutely nothing to do" with the attack -- and that they were simply fleeing the scene.
Munich's main train station was evacuated and metro and bus transport suspended for several hours while residents were ordered to stay inside, leaving the streets largely deserted.
