Three Attackers Hunted, Munich Still Locked

MUNICH - Nine people were killed Friday when gunfire erupted at a shopping center in Munich, Germany, in what a police officials said "looks like a terror attack."

At least three attackers were on the loose as the city was under a virtual lockdown, with residents being urged to stay home, restaurants and other business closing and public transit shutting down.

Many people started running when they heard the gunshots, said Lynn Stein, who works at the Jack Wolfskin store in the mall. The mall, located in a middle-class neighborhood in northern Munich, is the city's biggest shopping center.

Shooting broke out at a McDonald's across from the Olympia shopping mall around 5:50 p.m. (11:50 a.m. ET), police spokeswoman Claudia Küntzel said. Gunfire also broke out inside the mall, which is adjacent to the site of the 1972 Olympics, witnesses said.



On Facebook, police said gunfire was reported in several locations, and that witnesses report seeing three people with firearms.

"The manhunt is underway at high speed," police said.

"Because of the unclear situation we ask all people in the city area to stay at home or to look for protection in any nearby building. The operation of public transportation service has been stopped."

"I hear like an alarm and boom, boom, boom... And he's still killing the children. The children were sitting to ear. They can't run."

Lauretta said she heard the gunman say, "Allahu Akbar". "I know this because I'm Muslim. I hear this and I only cry."

Lynn Stein, who said she works at the Jack Wolfskin store in the mall, said she heard six of seven shots inside the mall. "People were very confused, and they were running and they were screaming," she said.

She said she saw someone lying on the floor of a store who appeared to be either dead or injured. "There's a woman over them, crying."

Outside the mall, she said, police ran with large guns and told people to clear the area.

Thamina Stoll told CNN she was with her grandmother, who lives about three minutes away from the mall: "There were like 50 people running towards our house to seek shelter, and there was a helicopter circling above us for about 20 minutes and sirens. And there's still people walking on the streets, they're confused, and nobody knows what's really going on."

The German government has set up a crisis response committee and the interior minister, Thomas de Maizière, currently on a visit to the US, is returning home.

Residents have been warned via Munich’s smartphone warning system to avoid public places, stay in their homes where possible, and turn on the TV and radio.

Munich central station is closed and has been evacuated. The underground system and bus network have also been suspended. Drivers on the motorway into Munich have been asked to clear the road for police and emergency service vehicles.

Hospitals throughout Munich are on emergency alert and in “catastrophe mode”.

The shooting comes as recent terror attacks have put Europe on high alert. A truck plowed into a crowd of Bastille Day revelers in Nice, France, last week, killing more than 80 people. This week, a teenager who said he was inspired by ISIS stabbed passengers on a German train before police shot him dead.