9 killed, 16 wounded in shooting rampage at German shopping mall

By Park Si-soo

A gunman opened fire in a busy mall in the German city of Munich on Friday evening (local time), killing 9 people and injuring 16 others. The shooter, identified as an 18-year-old German-Iranian man, killed himself shortly after the attack.

Police gave a "cautious all clear'' early Saturday 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. They said a body found near the scene was that of the shooter and he appeared to have acted alone.

Munich police chief Hubertus Andraes told a news conference the suspect was a dual citizen from Munich and his motive was still ``fully unclear."

Andraes said the suspect's body was found about 2 1/2 hours after the attack and was determined to be the shooter based on witness statements and closed circuit television footage of the attack. The shooter was not previously known to police and there was no evidence of any links to terrorist organizations, Andraes said.

Yet another terror attack?

The German government has sent members of elite anti-terrorism force to the scene. German Chancellor Angela Merkel will convene her security council Saturday to address the deadly shooting rampage. Merkel’s chief of staff Peter Altmaier said, “All that we know and can say right now is that it was a cruel and inhumane attack.”

He told the German public channel ARD that “we can't rule out that there are terrorist links. We can't confirm them, but we are investigating along those lines too.”

The deadly incident took place only days after an axe-wielding Afghan teenager wounded 21 passengers on a German train.