Watch: Munich Shooting Gunman Shouting on Rooftop

Police are still saying the motive of the Munich, Germany mall and McDonalds shooter remains unclear. However, an unconfirmed video has emerged showing the gunman may have shouted “Ich bin Deutscher” (“I am German”) on a rooftop as bystanders hurled insults at him. Police have now identified the gunman as an 18-year-old German-Iranian from Munich who had dual nationality.

 

A German born or raised shooter of Iranian descent might explain the initial media conflicts between the unaccented “I am German” remark the gunman utters in the video and an eyewitness account on CNN that the shooter shouted “Allahu Akbar” before shooting children at the McDonalds. Sixteen people were injured, including children, Reuters said.

 

Reddit has posted a translation of the German language used in the unconfirmed video. CNN says it is analyzing the rooftop video and that the purported gunman talks about medical treatment and says he was a German. CNN said the man on the video matches the suspect’s description. However, police said the gunman was “German-Iranian.” The CNN translation of the rooftop videos says the shooter says he was from a Turkish area of Germany. Police told the BBC they could not confirm nor dispute the video.

 

Numerous media outlets, such as CNN and CBS, say police are calling the Munich shooting spree a terrorist attack or suspected terrorism, and CNN reported that a witness heard a gunman shout, “Allahu Akbar” before shooting children in the face at the McDonalds. The news outlets also say that police initially believed there may have been three gunmen, that one may have shot and killed himself, and that a manhunt was ongoing for the other possible shooters. The Sun says German police have not yet linked the shooting spree to Islamic fundamentalism. However, Munich police later said they had determined that the dead gunman had acted alone.

 

The Reddit translation starts with the citizen on the balcony insulting and swearing at the purported shooter who then says he was bullied, so he had to buy a gun to shoot. The citizen then directs insulting terms used against people of Middle Eastern descent toward the shooter, who responds, “I am German.” According to the Reddit translation, the shooter then says, “…I was born here!” and continues, “I grew up here in the Hartz 4 (unemployment benefits in Germany) area, in the [unintelligible] region here in Hasenbergl.”

 

However, in a conflicting report, a woman told CNN that one of the gunmen had shouted “Allahu Akbar” before shooting children at the McDonalds. The scene outside the McDonalds was captured on chilling video.