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Munich Police Fatally Shoot Man they Believe Was Planning to Attack Israeli Consulate

Police vehicles parked in Munich near the Nazi Documentation Center and the Israeli Consulate General in Munich, Germany, Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024. (Simon Sachseder/dpa via AP)
Police vehicles parked in Munich near the Nazi Documentation Center and the Israeli Consulate General in Munich, Germany, Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024. (Simon Sachseder/dpa via AP)
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Munich Police Fatally Shoot Man they Believe Was Planning to Attack Israeli Consulate

Police vehicles parked in Munich near the Nazi Documentation Center and the Israeli Consulate General in Munich, Germany, Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024. (Simon Sachseder/dpa via AP)
Police vehicles parked in Munich near the Nazi Documentation Center and the Israeli Consulate General in Munich, Germany, Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024. (Simon Sachseder/dpa via AP)

Police in Munich exchanged fire with a gunman near the Israeli Consulate in Munich on Thursday, fatally wounding him. Authorities said they believe he was planning to attack the consulate on the anniversary of the attack on the 1972 Munich Olympics.
No one else was hurt in the shootout shortly after 9 a.m. in an area near the consulate and a museum on the city's Nazi-era history. Officers had been alerted to a person carrying a gun in the Karolinenplatz area, near downtown Munich, and returned fire when he shot at them. The suspect, who was carrying an old long gun with a bayonet attached to it, died at the scene.
Five officers were at the scene at the time the gunfire erupted. Police quickly deployed about 500 officers to the area, The Associated Press reported.
Police said the gunman was an 18-year-old from Austria, but investigators were still looking into his motive. They didn't give further details on the suspect, who left a car near the scene, except to say that he lived in Austria.
“We have to assume that an attack on the Israeli Consulate possibly was planned early today," Bavaria's top security official, state Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann, told reporters at the scene. “It's obvious that, if someone parks here within sight of the Israeli Consulate ... then starts shooting, it most probably isn't a coincidence.”
Prosecutors and police said in a statement later Thursday they currently believe the plan was for “a terrorist attack, also with respect to the consulate of the state of Israel,” and that they are still investigating the man's motive.
Thursday was the 52nd anniversary of the attack by Palestinian militants on the Israeli delegation at the 1972 Munich Olympics, which ended with the death of 11 Israeli team members, a West German police officer and five of the assailants.
“There may be a connection — that must be cleared up,” Bavarian governor Markus Söder said.
Munich police said there was no evidence of any more suspects connected to the shooting.
In neighboring Austria's Salzburg province, police said the suspected assailant, an Austrian with Bosnian roots, had come to authorities' attention in February 2023. They said that, following a “dangerous threat” against fellow students coupled with bodily harm, he had also been accused of involvement in a terror organization.
There was a suspicion that he had become religiously radicalized, was active online in that context and was interested in explosives and weapons, a police statement said, but prosecutors closed an investigation in April 2023.
However, authorities did issue a ban on him owning weapons until at least the beginning of 2028. Police said he had not come to their attention since.

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France’s Mayotte Struggles to Recover as Cyclone Overwhelms Hospitals

This aerial view shows damaged buildings in the city of Mamoudzou, on the French Indian Ocean territory of Mayotte, on December 21, 2024, after cyclone Chido hit the archipelago. (AFP)
This aerial view shows damaged buildings in the city of Mamoudzou, on the French Indian Ocean territory of Mayotte, on December 21, 2024, after cyclone Chido hit the archipelago. (AFP)
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France’s Mayotte Struggles to Recover as Cyclone Overwhelms Hospitals

This aerial view shows damaged buildings in the city of Mamoudzou, on the French Indian Ocean territory of Mayotte, on December 21, 2024, after cyclone Chido hit the archipelago. (AFP)
This aerial view shows damaged buildings in the city of Mamoudzou, on the French Indian Ocean territory of Mayotte, on December 21, 2024, after cyclone Chido hit the archipelago. (AFP)

One week after its worst cyclone in nearly a century, and a day after a testy presidential visit, France’s impoverished Indian Ocean territory of Mayotte is still grappling with counting the dead, restoring essential services and aiding a beleaguered population.

Cyclone Chido wreaked devastation across the archipelago. Already stretched thin, hospitals are overwhelmed with patients suffering not only from cyclone-related injuries but also from dehydration, malnutrition and disease.

At Mayotte’s main hospital in the capital, Mamoudzou, doctors faced a cascade of crises.

“We lost 40% of patient rooms, about 50 to 60 beds,” said Dr. Roger Serhal, chief of the obstetrics and gynecology department. “There are so many patients coming to the hospital, and we don’t have space to admit them.”

As Chido battered the archipelago last weekend with 220 kph (136 mph) winds, Serhal and his team delivered three babies, including by cesarean section.

The hospital’s structural damage has forced staff to triage patients, prioritizing the most severe cases. Though the official death toll remains 35, according to the French Interior Ministry on Saturday, the number of seriously injured has risen to 78, with 2,432 others sustaining minor injuries. Health Minister Geneviève Darrieussecq has warned that any estimates are likely major undercounts “compared to the scale of the disaster.”

Emergency aid was being delivered by air and sea. Since the cyclone, 31 tons of food and 108 tons of water have arrived, with an additional 1.6 million liters of water expected Monday aboard a container ship, according to the Interior Ministry.

The hospital is operating at 50% capacity, while 109 patients have been evacuated to mainland France for urgent care. Three advanced medical posts have been established on Grande-Terre, Mayotte’s main island, to address the surge in need.

The storm has devastated entire neighborhoods. Many people ignored warnings, thinking the storm wouldn’t be so extreme. Even worse, many migrants avoided shelters out of fear of deportation, authorities said, adding there could be hundreds or possibly thousands of fatalities.

Doctors fear that the lack of clean water and electricity — compounded by overcrowded living conditions — is setting the stage for a health crisis. “Patients are coming because their illnesses are untreated, there’s no water, and no electricity. We’re concerned about epidemics, like the cholera outbreak we stopped just months ago,” said Dr. Vincent Gilles, the hospital’s emergency medical director.

The hospital staff continues to work tirelessly, but resources are running dangerously low. “If we have rain it will be catastrophic,” Serhal said.

Among the patients struggling to recover is Saindou Mohamadi, 54, who fractured his arm and sprained his ankle during the storm that left his home completely destroyed.

Speaking from his hospital bed, Mohamadi expressed despair for his family. “My mother is sick, I’m sick, and my child is sick,” he said. “They need to eat, but I’m the one who takes care of the food, and now we have nothing.” With six children to support, Mohamadi is among countless residents left homeless and destitute.

“I’m not alone,” he said. “There are many of us who have lost everything — our houses, our food. I want the government to care about us, to give us food and a place to sleep.”

Mayotte, a densely populated archipelago of over 320,000 people, is also home to an estimated 100,000 migrants, many living in precarious conditions.

The poorest overseas region of France and, by extension, the European Union has long struggled with systemic neglect and underinvestment. Around 75% of its population lives in poverty, and the archipelago’s infrastructure was ill-equipped to withstand a disaster of this magnitude. Chido’s destruction has compounded these challenges, leaving many residents with little faith in the government’s ability to provide timely and adequate relief.

Efforts to deliver emergency aid, including airlifts of water and food, are underway, but the scale of the need is staggering. Mayotte’s airport remains closed to civilian flights due to damage, further complicating logistics.

French President Emmanuel Macron, during his visit on Friday, acknowledged the gravity of the situation and pledged to rebuild but faced criticism from residents frustrated by the slow pace of aid.

Calling the archipelago “totally devastated,” Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau painted a bleak picture — with some 70% of the population gravely affected by the catastrophe, and many left homeless and vulnerable. For now, the island’s residents and its overstretched medical staff are left to confront the daunting aftermath of Chido, one day at a time.