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Munich Attack Suspect “Obsessed” With Mass Shootings

Munich Attack Suspect “Obsessed” With Mass Shootings
Munich Attack Suspect “Obsessed” With Mass Shootings

The 18-year-old suspect who opened fire at a crowded Munich shopping center and fast-food restaurant, shooting nine people dead and wounding 16 others before killing himself, was obsessed with mass shootings, police said.

Investigators searched the unnamed suspect’s home overnight and found a considerable amount of literature about mass killings, including a book titled “Rampage in Head: Why Students Kill”. They believe he acted alone.

The gunman, dressed in black, went on a shooting spree at a shopping mall on Friday evening before committing suicide, Al Jazeera reports.

Among the nine killed were three Kosovans, according to the Foreign Ministry in Pristina, while Munich police said the injured included children.

The attack was carried out exactly five years to the day since mass killer Anders Breivik began slaughtering dozens of people in Norway.

Munich police chief, Hubertus Andrae, said, “Breivik would have played a role. It’s obvious that he did.”

He described the attack as a “classic act by a deranged person” and described an individual “obsessed” with mass shootings.

However, Germany’s Interior Minister Thomas De Maiziere said it was too early to draw the link with Breivik.

De Maiziere added that there was “no indication of any connection to international terrorism”.

Police have not found any evidence that the attacker was linked to groups like the self-styled Islamic State terrorist group.

Munich Prosecutor Thomas Steinkraus-Koch said the 18-year-old suspect, a German-Iranian whose name is Ali David Sonboly, had suffered depression and reportedly undergone psychiatric treatment.

The attack sent Germany’s third largest city into lockdown as police launched a massive operation to track down what had initially been thought to be up to three assailants.

 

Financialtribune.com