Gunman Shoots 9 in Munich, Targeted Children

Gunman Ali Sonboly, an 18 year old German-Iranian killed 9 people in a busy Munich shoping district, including children aged 14,15 and 17. The attack left 10 dead and 27 wounded. The gunman was counted as one of the dead apparently from a self inflicted wound. 

Witnesses say he shouted “Allahu Ahkbar” as he was shooting.

Using the name “Selina Akim”, Sonboly posted a message hours before the attack saying: “Come today at four o’clock to McDonald’s at OEZ [shopping centre]. I am giving away anything you want as long as it’s not too expensive.”

The gunman used a handgun with the serial number scraped off, apparently obtained illegally. The authorities had no indication that gunman was associated with any radical group. Police officials said the attacker had no political motivations and no references to religion had been found in his home. The press has referred to him as a “lone gunman.”

Sonboly was describe by the press as a quiet, shy type who was bullied. His only prior contact with police was twice as a robbery victim and a bullying victim. Hentered Germany with his parents, Shiite Muslims from Iran who came to Germany as asylum seekers in the 1990s.

Editor’s note: As a former intelligence office it irritates me when officials “deny a connection” to a radical group. The press always picks this up as as an absolute. The result is the politicians then focus on how to keep guns away from crazy people, rather than the real problem of organized radical Islam.

Not knowing about a connection doesn not mean there is not a connection. In fact, professional intelligence services around the world have thousands of agents who are connected in ways the police have absolutely no knowledge of.

Covert meetings and communications are not limited to intelligence services, radical Islamic groups could easily have been in touch with him without the knowledge of the police. I believe this is what happened, not only in this case but in Orlando and several other cases of “lone gunman.”

Where would an 18 years old get a sanitized gun?