Teen Munich Gunman 'Lured People to McDonald's'

German-Iranian's motive still unclear, cops say
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 23, 2016 6:09 AM CDT
Updated Jul 23, 2016 10:17 AM CDT
Teen Munich Gunman 'Lured People to Mall'
Candles are lit near the mall in Munich.   (AP Photo/Sebastian Widmann)

Police investigating Friday's mass shooting in Munich have identified the gunman who killed nine people before shooting himself as a German-Iranian 18-year-old with no criminal record or known links to extremists. Police say the teen—named in some reports as Ali Sonboly—hacked a young woman's Facebook account to lure people to a McDonald's opposite a mall, promising a free giveaway of something "not too expensive," the AP reports. In other developments:

  • Munich police chief Hubertus Andrae says the teen's motive, at this point, remains "completely unclear" and a search of his home hasn't revealed links to ISIS or any other terror group. He says the teen grew up in Munich and there is "absolutely no" link between the shooting and the recent influx of refugees.

  • Police say they have found evidence that the teen was obsessed with mass shootings, including a book called "Rampage in Head: Why Students Kill." He is also believed to have been obsessed with Norwegian mass killer Hans Anders Breivik and may have timed his attack to coincide with the fifth anniversary of Breivik's rampage.
  • The teen was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound hours after he opened fire at the McDonald's and then moved to the crowded mall, the Telegraph reports. Transport was shut down and people were ordered to stay in their homes for hours before police concluded the teen had acted alone. He was found with a 9mm Glock pistol and 300 rounds of ammo, police say.
  • Video has surfaced of the gunman on the roof of a parking lot being shouted at by another man on a balcony. "I am German," the gunman shouts at one point as the man on the balcony swears at him. "Your head isn’t on right," the bystander shouts, according to the Guardian's translation.
  • Authorities say all nine victims were Munich residents. Seven of them were teenagers. A 20-year-old man and a 45-year-old woman were also killed. Three victims were ethnic Albanians originally from Kosovo, where President Hashim Thaci has declared Sunday a day of mourning.
(More Munich stories.)

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