On Thursday, police in Munich fatally shot a terror suspect near Israel’s consulate in the Bavarian capital, believing the individual was attempting an attack on the anniversary of the massacre of Israeli athletes during the city's hosting of the 1972 Olympic Summer Games.
Authorities announced that the incident occurred shortly after 9 a.m. when officers were alerted to a person carrying an older model carbine in Karolinenplatz. The assailant reportedly discharged his weapon at the responders and died at the scene when they returned fire.
Law enforcement officials subsequently dispatched 500 special operations personnel to secure the area and search for possible accomplices.
German-language media outlets have reported that the accused is an 18-year-old Austrian citizen from a Bosnian family who was known to intelligence services because of alleged connections to a Syrian-based Al Qaeda affiliate. Deutsche Welle cited a source who said that his residence was raided last year regarding an anti-terrorism investigation.
Prosecutors released a statement confirming that the unnamed gunman likely planned to commit “a terrorist attack, also with respect to the consulate of the state of Israel.”
Thursday's confrontation occurred on the 52nd anniversary of the murder of 11 members of Israel's Olympic delegation and a West German police officer by the Palestinian Black September organization while the XX Olympiad was underway, an act of infamy that cast a dark shadow over the international competition.
In remembrance of the tragic event, the nearby consulate was closed, thus none of the Jewish state’s diplomatic staff was in any danger.
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