LONDON — Munich police shot a “suspicious person” in the Karolinenplatz area of the southern German city on Thursday morning, authorities said, adding that they had launched a “major operation”.
“Officers saw a person who appeared to be carrying a firearm,” the Munich police force said in an initial statement on social media. “The emergency services used their service weapons and the person was hit and injured.”
“The weapon the suspect is using is an older long gun,” a later police update clarified. “The suspect was fatally wounded in the shooting. There is still no sign of any additional suspects or other injuries.”
Police officers block a street after police fired shots at a suspect near the Israeli consulate and a museum on the city’s Nazi history in Munich, Germany, September 5, 2024.
Matthias Schrader/AP
The area was cordoned off, with a helicopter in the air above the scene, the force said.
The shooting happened next to the city’s Nazi documentation center, police said.
“Many emergency services are en route to the scene,” the force noted. “We ask that you avoid this area as much as possible.”
Police vehicles parked in Munich near the Nazi Documentation Center and the Israeli Consulate General in Munich, Germany, September 5, 2024.
Simon Sachseder/AP
The Nazi Documentation Center is one of the city’s most popular museums, located midway between the famous Karolinenplatz and Königsplatz just northwest of the medieval old town. It is less than 500 feet from the Israeli Consulate.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry confirmed there had been a “shooting incident” near the consulate, noting that the facility was closed on Thursday to coincide with the anniversary of the deadly terrorist attack at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich.
Police officers patrol near a scene after police fired shots at a suspect near the Israeli consulate and a museum about the city’s Nazi-era history in Munich, Germany, September 5, 2024.
Matthias Schrader/AP
– No one from the consulate staff was injured in the incident, says the ministry’s spokesperson. “The shot was neutralized by the German security forces and the incident is under their care.”
ABC News’ Joe Simonetti, Victoria Beaule and Dana Savir contributed to this report.