Munich gunman obsessed with mass shootings, sent out invitations to mall before rampage, cops say
(FOX)- The gunman who opened fire inside a Munich shopping center Friday killing 9 people sent out an online invitation about a bogus free giveaway to attract more people to the site of the attack, investigators said.
The gunman hacked a Facebook account and sent a message urging people to come to the Olympia Einkaufszentrum mall for a free giveaway, a police investigator said.
The posting, sent from a young woman’s account, urged people to come to the mall at 4 p.m., saying: “I’ll give you something if you want, but not too expensive.” Police believe the gunman sent the message.
The motive behind the shooting remains unclear, despite early reports indicating it appeared to be terror related.
Munich police chief Hubertus Andrae says “no evidence” of links to the Islamic State group has been found in the home and room of the Munich shooting suspect.
Andrae also told a news conference that the crime and the perpetrator had “absolutely no” link to the issue of refugees.
Peter Beck, a Munich police spokesman, said officers were still collecting evidence at the scene of the crime Saturday morning.
“With regard to the suspect we have to examine everything, but we don’t know yet what triggered the crime,” Beck told The Associated Press.
Beck said the number of people receiving hospital treatment stood at 16, three of whom were seriously wounded. Security restrictions in the city have been lifted and public transport is operating as normal, Beck said.
The suspect was identified as an 18-year-old German-Iranian man, who was born and raised in Munich. Prosecutor Steinkraus Koch tells a news conference the suspect had a book titled: “Rampage in Head: Why Students Kill.”