23 July,2016 09:13 AM IST | | Agencies
Several people were killed yesterday in a shooting rampage by a lone gunman in a Munich shopping centre, police said.
Barlin: Several people were killed yesterday in a shooting rampage by a lone gunman in a Munich shopping centre, police said. The Bild newspaper reported that the gunman ran through the mall near the Olympic stadium in the city, firing on several people before fleeing in the direction of a nearby metro station.
Police secures the area of a subway station Karlsplatz (Stachus) near the shopping mall. PIC/AFP
The OEZ shopping centre was surrounded by police who were hunting for the attacker. "There is a major police operation under way in the shopping centre," Munich police said on Twitter, urging people to avoid the area. The shooting happened at 6 pm local time.
Emergency vehicles were seen in the streets outside, as passers-by looked on. "Attention - avoid the neighbourhood around the OEZ. Stay in your homes. Leave the street," the Munich police tweet said.
Three gunmen involved
At least six people are believed to have been killed in the rampage, a police source said. Three armed assailants were involved in the shooting, said a police spokesman citing witnesses. He was unable to officially confirm the death toll.
The shooting comes just days after a teenage asylum seeker went on the rampage with an axe and a knife on a regional train in Germany on Monday, injuring five people, two of them critically.
Munich authorities have shut down the entire public transport system as armed policemen continue to screen metro stations around the shopping mall, where the shooting occurred.
While cops secured all points in their city, Munich residents were using the hashtag #OffeneTur (open door) to offer their homes as safe places to those stranded because of the shootings. They were tweeting out their addresses with the hashtag to help those in need of a safe home.
tweet talk
@AMDWaters: Well done Chancellor Merkel. You've made your country a war zone, this is just the beginning. Europe is under attack & leaderless #Munich
@TandonRaveena: I wonder if history will be kind to Angela Merkel....
@bhogleharsha: Now Munich! Who knows what next? Who next?.
Locals #opendoor
While cops secured all points in their city, Munich residents were using the hashtag #OffeneTur (open door) to offer their homes as safe places to those stranded because of the shootings. They were tweeting out their addresses with the hashtag to help those in need of a safe home.
