Suspect shot in Munich outside Nazi documentation centre

An armed man has been fatally shot by German police near the Nazi documentation centre and Israeli consulate in the southern city of Munich.

The man was hit during an exchange of fire with police. Bavarian Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann said later that the suspect had died.

Police said a man had been spotted in the area carrying a long firearm and five officers then exchanged fire with their service weapons.

The Israeli consulate was closed at the time of the shooting because it was holding a 50th anniversary memorial service for the 1972 attack on Israeli athletes by gunmen from Palestinian militant group Black September.

Eleven athletes and a police officer were killed in the hostage ordeal during the Munich Olympics.

Police said there were no indications of any other suspects. Police cordoned off the area around Karolinenplatz and neighbouring Briennerstrasse, close to the centre of the city.

People in nearby residential or office buildings were urged to stay inside as police said they were working to “clarify” the situation and warned against speculation.

A police helicopter circled over the area and the public were asked not to post images of the incident on social media.

Munich’s documentation centre for the history of National Socialism opened nine years ago on the site of the former Nazi party’s headquarters or “Brown House”.

No-one at the consulate was hurt, and after the shooting police decided to raise security at Munich’s main synagogue, according to local reports.

Israeli Consul Talya Lador thanked the police for their response to the attack and said the incident showed “how dangerous the rise of antisemitism is”.

Israel’s president, Isaac Herzog, said he had spoken to his German counterpart, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, adding that they shared condemnation and horror at the attack.

“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-fulled terrorist came and once again sought to murder innocent people,” he said.

Joachim Herrmann said the incident was clearly connected to the Nazi history centre and consulate, as well as the Amerikahaus, although he said that still had to be confirmed. The Amerikahaus lays on exhibitions and programmes on relations with the US.

German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said that protecting Jewish and Israeli institutions was of the highest priority.

“It’s very sad the incident took place in front of the Nazi documentation centre and Israeli general consulate,” she said.