Ali Sonboly: Everything we know about the Munich gunman
23 JULY 2016 • 1:41PM
The Munich shooter was an 18-year-old Iranian-German "loner" named locally as Ali Sonboly, who reportedly complained of bullying shortly before gunning down his nine victims outside a shopping centre and fleeing the scene to commit suicide.
What we know about him
He was a student, born and raised in Munich.Police have found no indication that he had links to Islamic State but have said there are 'obvious links' to far-right terrorist Anders Breivik.There appeared to be no links to immigrants or immigration into Germany.He appears to have acted alone. He used a semi-automatic 9mm Glock 17 handgun, which had had its serial number illegally removed.An additional 300 rounds of ammunition were found in his rucksack when his body was found.He had previously received psychiatric treatment, including for depression.A search of his room had unearthed a document about "frenzied attacks" and a book called: "Rampage in Head: Why Students Kill."Munich chief of police Hubertus Andrae said the gunman appeared to be "obsessed with shooting rampages".The gunman appeared to have hacked into a Facebook account to tell people free food was going to be handed out at the McDonald's where his rampage started.
What happened
Posing as a teenage girl called 'Selina Akim', Sonboly is thought to have used messages posted on a fake Facebook account to lure young victims to their death with fraudulent offers of free food just hours before his murderous rampage began.
Instead, he opened fire outside a nearby McDonald's, leaving nine people dead and three seriously injured, while thirteen others escaped with less serious injuries.
"The perpetrator was an 18-year-old German-Iranian from Munich," police chief Hubertus Andrae told reporters after the massacre on Friday that left 10 people dead including the gunman.
"The motive or explanation for this crime is completely unclear."
Munich shooter responds to 'f*****g foreigner' taunts by saying 'I am German'Play!01:50
Mr Andrae said the gunman - who opened fire at a busy shopping centre near the southern German city's Olympic stadium before turning the gun on himself - had dual citizenship and "no criminal record". He said inquiries suggested the suspect had lived in the city for more than two years.
Mr Andrae said the suspect's body was found about 2 1/2 hours after the attack and was identified to be the shooter based on witness statements and closed circuit television footage of the attack. He was not previously known to police and there was no evidence of any links to terrorist organisations, Mr Andrae said.
Police also thought it likely that Friday’s five-year anniversary of Anders Breivik’s attacks on the island of Utoya played a role in the attack.
Made online threats to kill friends
Sonboly previously threatened to kill his friends in messages posted on the video gaming network Steam, it has emerged.
The teenager was said to be obsessed with video gamesaccording to German newspaper Bild, and several were found in his apartment.
It also emerged that he used his account on the Steam network - which allows users to play computer games against each other - to issue death threats to other players.
"Come to the McDonald's and I will come and get you and shoot you," he reportedly told his friends using a microphone.
He appears to have posted messages on the Steam network under a number of different aliases.
They include: "Psycho," "Until I see sense no more," "Godlike" and "We will play this game to death."
"About a year ago we kicked him out of the [Steam] group because he kept threatening us,"a former classmate told Bild. It is the latest evidence to suggest that there were warnings Sonboly was preparing to carry out a mass killing.
Gunman on the roof
A video appeared to show the gunman on the roof of a parking garage as he exchanged insults with people on a nearby balcony who referred to him a foreigner.
Gunman is seen on the roof of a car park.
"I'm German, I was born here," the assailant is heard to reply.
An onlooker then calls him a "w*****" before the gunman tells the man to “shut your trap” and more shots are fired.
The gunman also apparently claimed to have been "bullied for seven years".
Police commandos, armed with night vision equipment and dogs, raided an apartment in the Munich neighbourhood of Maxvorstadt early on Saturday where the German newspaper Bild said the gunman lived with his parents.
Footage shows shooter open fire on people outside shopping mall in MunichPlay!00:25
"He lived right next to me," Bild quoted a neighbour as saying. "A friend of mine went to school with him and said he was rather a quiet guy. He recognised him from the videos from the scene."
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier also said the motive for the attack was not yet clear.
"The motives for this abhorrent act have not yet been completely clarified - we still have contradictory clues," German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said in a statement.
People run from scene of shooting in MunichPlay!00:32
While police initially called the mall shooting an act of terrorism, they said they had "no indication" it involved Islamic extremism.
US intelligence officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said initial reports from their German counterparts indicated no apparent link between the gunman and Islamic State or other militant groups.