Killer obsessed with rampages, investigators say
MUNICH — The gunman whose rampage at a Munich mall killed nine people 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 attack, even though he himself was the Germanborn son of Iranian asylumseekers.
Most of the dead were youths and all were Munich residents of varied ethnic backgrounds. Hueseyin Bayri, who witnessed one boy’s death, said 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 antiforeigner 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.
Police said a search of the backpack lying next to his corpse revealed the shooter was carrying more than 300 rounds for the 9mm handgun he used to kill his victims. Investigators said the gunman, identified 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 say they are still looking for a motive for the attack but Munich prosecutor Thomas Steinkraus-Koch noted the gunman apparently was undergoing psychiatric treatment for problems including depression.
Law enforcement officials think the Munich tragedy could be a copy-cat attack, considering it was carried out on the fifth anniversary of the killing of 77 people by Norwegian right-wing extremist Anders Behring Breivik.
A search of the shooter’s home overnight revealed a trove of literature about mass killings. But there was no evidence that he was linked to extremists such as the Islamic State group, officials said.