Troubled teen
Depressed teenager used illegal weapon
Munich shooter was a depressed youth who hated foreigners, officials say
MUNICH — The gunman whose rampage at a Munich mall left nine people dead was a depression-plagued teenager who avidly read books and articles about mass killings and apparently tried to lure young victims to their deaths through a faked Facebook posting, authorities said Saturday.
Information from witnesses indicated that his hatred of foreigners might have played a role in the mass shooting, even though he himself was the German-born son of Iranian asylum-seekers.
Most of the dead were youths, and all were Munich residents of varied ethnic backgrounds. Hueseyin Bayri, who witnessed one boy’s death, said that the shooter screamed a profanity about foreigners and said “I will kill you all” as he pulled the trigger. A video shot of the perpetrator also showed him yelling anti-foreigner slurs.
The 18-year-old high-school student from Munich with Iranian and German citizenship also wounded more than two dozen others Friday night before turning his illegal Glock 17 pistol on himself, ending a shooting rampage that could have become even more tragic.
Witnesses and a dramatic cellphone video that police think is genuine indicated that the gunman was unstable and disliked foreigners.
The shooter yelled anti-foreigner slurs both at a person verbally sparring with him from a balcony, which was caught on film by a neighbor, and later also inside the mall.
Police said that a search of the red backpack lying next to his black-clad corpse revealed that the shooter was carrying more than 300 rounds for the 9-millimeter handgun he used to kill his victims.
The filed-off serial numbers of the Glock made it difficult to establish its origin. But investigators said the gunman, identified by German officials only as David S., had no permit to carry it.
One victim was 45, another 20 and the rest were between 14 and 19, Munich police chief Hubertus Andrae said. The fact that most of the dead were so young added to what Chancellor Angela Merkel called “an evening and night of horror.”
It started as a normal Friday evening. A Munich mall was buzzing with shoppers, and across the street, customers were enjoying a meal at a McDonald’s restaurant.
Earlier that day, the shooter hacked a Facebook account and sent a message inviting people to come to the mall for a giveaway, said Robert Heimberger, the head of Bavaria’s criminal police.
Investigators are still looking for a motive but Munich prosecutor Thomas Steinkraus-Koch said the gunman was apparently undergoing treatment for problems including depression.