Munich was rocked by gunfire on the evening of July 22, 2016. The situation was confusing for a long time. On the occasion of the fifth anniversary, we are re-publishing a minute record from that time.
In an attack in Munich on Friday, July 22, 2016, nine people were shot dead. The shooter, an 18-year-old right-wing extremist, then killed himself. When the fakes were summarized for this minute record, it was not yet known that it was a hate crime. This chronicle appeared in the early hours of Saturday morning, a few hours after the crime. We are publishing it here again – unchanged – to illustrate the situation from then.
5:52 p.m .: The alarm from the Olympic shopping center (OEZ) in the north of the city is received by the police. The first shots are fired at a fast food restaurant. From this point on, police sirens can be heard everywhere in Munich.
6:33 p.m .: The police confirm: There was a shooting in the OEZ. It is initially unclear whether people were injured or killed. “It’s probably something bigger,” says a spokeswoman.
6:35 p.m .: The police tweeted: “At the moment we have a large police operation at the OEZ. Please avoid the area around the shopping center.” People around the OEZ send live videos of police operations via the Periscope internet service.
6.43pm: It becomes clear that there have been injuries and possibly deaths.
7:05 p.m .: The police warned the population via Twitter: “+++ ATTENTION +++ Avoid the area around the #OEZ – stay in your apartments. Leave the street! +++”
7.13pm: The police keep people up to date via Twitter. “The situation at the #OEZ with #shooting is currently still confusing. There were several injured.”
7:17 p.m .: The police must extend the warning – from the OEZ to all public places. “Avoid public spaces in # Munich. The situation is still confusing.”
7.20 p.m .: The police do not know whether they are dealing with one perpetrator or several.
around 7.30 p.m .: An internet video appears. It shows a person who obviously comes from a fast food restaurant in Munich and shoots people indiscriminately with a handgun. The source of this video, which was posted on Twitter, is initially unclear.
7:33 p.m .: Now there is also a large-scale police operation in the city center. Numerous people run from the pedestrian zone to Karlsplatz (Stachus). People scream and burst into tears. Numerous heavily armed police officers are on site. Bavaria’s Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann (CSU) is on his way to the state capital.
7:37 p.m .: The police appealed to Internet users: “Please do not put any photos / films of police measures online. Do not support the perpetrators!”
7.41 p.m .: The security forces no longer allow people in the city center to go to Marienplatz and Odeonsplatz. However, many passers-by walk around the Stachus. Rumors are spreading about alleged further shootings. The police react on Twitter: “Rumors of a #shooting in the city are known. The situation is still unclear! Please avoid public spaces and U / S-Bahn” – Then the police make it clear that there is a false alarm at the Stachus in the city center has given.
7.42 p.m .: The underground traffic in the city center has been discontinued.
7.47 p.m .: “We do not currently know where the perpetrators are. Take care of yourselves and continue to avoid the public” – in the minutes that followed, the police also gave information in English.
8:01 p.m .: Trams, underground trains and buses no longer run. Local traffic has been stopped on the instructions of the police.
8.10 p.m .: The main train station is being evacuated – because of a police operation, reports Deutsche Bahn. The train service has now also ceased.
8:11 p.m .: The Munich police assume that there were three assassins at the Olympia shopping center. “Witnesses report three different people with firearms,” the police wrote on Facebook. Despite the high pressure to be searched, no perpetrators could have been arrested. There is still no reliable information about the number of victims.
8:13 p.m .: Bavaria’s Prime Minister Horst Seehofer and Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann (both CSU) have scheduled a crisis meeting in the State Chancellery in Munich.
8:16 p.m .: The city of Munich calls the “special case” because of a “rampage”. Citizens are being asked not to leave their homes via the Katwarn smartphone warning system.
8:18 p.m .: The police tried to calm down: “Strong police forces in the entire city. We are looking for the perpetrators with high pressure. Avoid the public!” – The police now also send their information in French.
8:24 p.m .: Unrest and sometimes panic prevail in the city. After the main train station was closed, people flee via train tracks, as eyewitnesses report.
8:26 p.m .: Doctors and nurses have been called to Munich hospitals – for prevention. “The alarm of mass casualties was triggered,” says the spokesman for the Grosshadern University Hospital. At first he cannot say whether and how many injured people have already been admitted.
8:34 p.m .: According to dpa information, security circles do not rule out a terrorist attack. The German Press Agency learns that there is a tendency towards suspicion of terrorism.
8:35 p.m .: Munich’s Lord Mayor Dieter Reiter (SPD) rushes to the operations center of the Munich police. The “special case” declared by the city means that all of the city’s services are now working together, he says.
8.42 p.m .: The police speak of an “acute terrorist situation” in Munich.
8.44 p.m .: According to the police, three perpetrators with “long guns” are on the run.
8:55 p.m .: Fire brigade and rescue workers in Munich are in action with a large number. “Everything that is available is in use,” says a spokesman for the Munich fire brigade.
9:05 p.m .: The Czech Republic strengthens the police patrols in the border area with Germany. The police presence is also increasing in many shopping centers in the Czech Republic.
9:12 p.m .: The Munich police have not yet arrested any perpetrators. “The search for them is running at full speed,” it says.
9:16 p.m .: US President Barack Obama pledges his support to Germany. “Germany is one of our closest allies. We will promise them all the support they may need in these circumstances,” said Obama in Washington.
9:21 pm: The first number of victims: at least five people have been killed, a police spokesman announced.
9:23 p.m .: The police tweeted: unknown number of injured and six dead.
9:32 p.m .: The perpetrators are being searched for in the entire city and the surrounding area. A police spokesman cannot initially confirm rumors about the alleged death of a perpetrator.
9:33 p.m .: The federal government is preparing for a crisis because of the fatal attacks in Munich. Employees come together in the Chancellery to follow what is happening in Munich and to keep in touch with all the responsible authorities.
9:36 p.m .: British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said he was “deeply shocked” and “sadly” about the fatal shots in Munich. “My thoughts are with the victims, their loved ones and all of Germany at this time,” wrote Johnson on Twitter.
9:39 pm: The police called for moderation on Twitter: One should hold back with speculation. “With that you would support us very much.”
9.45 p.m .: There are no more customers in the Munich shopping center, the police said.
9.46 p.m .: So far, the police have no evidence of an Islamist background. “It’s way too early for that,” says a spokesman. The police speak of an “acute terrorist situation”. It publishes the telephone number of the central information and missing person center for relatives: 0800 7766350.
9:52 p.m .: The police inform in Turkish.
10:07 p.m .: After the attack, Bavaria’s Prime Minister Seehofer and Interior Minister Herrmann arrived at the police operations center.
10.09 p.m.: According to Chancellery Minister Peter Altmaier (CDU), the security authorities only know of one perpetrator in Munich, but he also says: “We do not rule out any hypotheses.”
10:12 p.m .: The police have requested special units from several other federal states, including the GSG9 of the federal police.
10:27 p.m .: The police report: “The number of dead rises to 8.”
ca. 22.35 clock: The spokesman for the Munich police, Marcus da Gloria Martins, is widely praised on Twitter for his calm and objectivity.
10:38 p.m .: After another corpse – a man – was found in the vicinity of the Munich Olympic shopping center, the police checked whether it could be a perpetrator.
10:44 p.m .: The police are intensively searching the OEZ. Regarding the situation in the vicinity of the crime scene, police spokesman Martins says: “We have no evidence that the situation outside of the ADC is worsening.”
10:49 p.m .: “We advise anyone who is in a building at an event to stay there until we can clear the warning.” The police also warned on Twitter to stay inside.
11.09 p.m .: The police tried to calm down again: “We currently have several special forces from Bavaria, other federal states and from the federal police in # Munich on duty.”
11.10 p.m .: The public transport and the S-Bahn are still not running.
11.12 p.m .: It is clear that the man who was found dead at the OEZ died as a result of violence.
11:25 p.m .: The Chancellery announced that the Federal Security Cabinet will meet in Berlin on Saturday.
During the evening: Facebook activates the “Safety Check” so that people can tell that they are safe. Munich residents tweet the hashtag #OpenTür to give others shelter.
A video is circulating on which the or one of the perpetrators may be seen or heard.
11:32 p.m .: The police say the number of eyewitnesses: around 100. They are looked after by a crisis intervention team.
11:36 p.m .: Instead of publishing pictures and videos yourself, they should be made available to the police, the officers ask and tweet an upload link.
0.10 a.m .: False alarms also keep the police in suspense. The editor-in-chief of the Munich “Abendzeitung”, Michael Schilling, reports on Twitter about three shots in front of the editorial building. The police arrive but can’t find anything suspicious.
0.21 a.m .: The police are aware of at least ten injured people: “We are still on a large-scale operation & still cannot clear the warning.”
0.38 a.m .: The police are examining the ninth body. It may be the culprit. The man had a backpack with him. This will also be examined by explosives experts.
0.40 a.m .: Bavaria’s Prime Minister Seehofer orders mourning flags on all state service buildings for Saturday.
0.48: Federal Interior Minister Thomas de Maizière (CDU) announced that he wanted to get an idea of the situation after the attack on Saturday. “It is terrible and completely incomprehensible what happened in Munich,” he says.
1.05 a.m .: The number of injuries has increased. According to the police, the injuries range from mild to severe.
1.25 a.m .: Public transport is running again, as the police tweeted.
1:30: All clear for Munich: The police are almost certain that the attacker was a lone perpetrator. The man killed himself, the investigators said.
1.39 a.m .: The police announce a new number of victims. After the attack in Munich, the number of dead has risen to ten.
2.24 a.m .: The perpetrator is an 18-year-old German-Iranian, the police said.
2.26 a.m .: According to the police, there were 2,300 emergency services in Munich on Friday evening and at night.
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