German police shoot dead armed suspect near Israeli consulate in Munich

Sept. 5 (UPI) -- German police shot and killed an armed man in a firefight in downtown Munich on Thursday close to Israel's consulate in the city and a museum documenting the history of the country's Nazi movement.

Bavarian Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann said the suspect died shortly after being fatally injured when police returned fire after he shot at them with a long firearm.

The incident came on the anniversary of a massacre at the 1972 Summer Olympics in the city in which 11 Israeli athletes and coaches and one German police officer were killed by Palestinian militants amid an ongoing conflict with Israel that continues to this day.

The Israeli consulate was shut for a memorial service marking the 52nd anniversary of the attack when Thursday's incident took place.

Herrmann said police were investigating whether it was connected to the anniversary but that he believed there was without doubt a link to the Nazi history center and the consulate.

People in residential and office buildings in the area were ordered to stay indoors as police cordoned off Karolinenplatz and neighboring Briennerstrasse and instructed people to stay away from the area.

Police, who said they were working to figure out the gunman's intentions and make sure the area was safe, warned against rumor-mongering on social media and asked people to refrain from posting photos and video.

Calling it a "serious incident," German interior minister Nancy Faeser said it was a top priority to protect Israeli and Jewish institutions in the country.

Israeli Consul-General Talya Lador praised German authorities' handling of the incident which she said demonstrated the very real threat posed by anti-Semitism.

"We are very grateful to Munich Police for their actions and cooperation. This event shows how dangerous the rise of anti-Semitism is," she said in a post on X.

"It is important that the general public raises its voice against it."

Israeli President Isaac Herzog condemned what he insisted was a terror attack saying he had spoken on the phone with his German counterpart, Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

"Together we expressed our shared condemnation and horror at the terror attack this morning near the Israeli consulate in Munich," Herzog wrote on X.

"On the day our brothers and sisters in Munich were set to stand in remembrance of our brave athletes murdered by terrorists 52 years ago, a hate-fueled terrorist came and once again sought to murder innocent people.

"I want to thank the German security services for their swift action, and send my support to all those targeted. Together we stand strong in the face of terror."

Karolinenplatz receives heavy police protection as the Nazi documentation center occupies the former site of the so-called "Brown House," the former party headquarters of Adolf Hitler's Nazi Party while the Israeli consulate is just a few yards away in the same complex.

Authorities assess the attack risk to both buildings as being high.