A woman (31) was shot dead by police in the “Penny” branch on Implerstrasse in Munich on Monday evening after she attacked the officers with a knife. The attacker died on the spot, a police spokesman said. There were still customers in the store at the time of the shooting.
Attacker before the attack: “I think there will be deaths today”
Apparently, the 31-year-old wrote a WhatsApp message to a friend six hours before the attack. It said: “I think there will be deaths today. Pray for me and G. that we survive.” the “Bild”.
On Monday evening, police were called to another location – in the Goetheplatz area – because of an assault. The 31-year-old had met her family in a restaurant there, and then there was an argument with her father. The woman who informed the police about this followed the suspect, said a police spokeswoman. “The perpetrator then fled into the subway and got off two stops later at Implerstrasse, near Theresienwiese, Bild reports. There she went straight to a branch of the discount food store.
The witness led the officers to this supermarket in the Sendling district, where they then discovered the suspect.
The woman then threatened the police officers with a small kitchen knife “from a distance of a few meters,” according to the police statement. The officers then used pepper spray and then their guns. According to investigators, two police officers fired a total of four shots. The woman did not respond to the order to put the knife down.
Woman dies in supermarket – she was mentally ill
The woman died of her injuries in the market. Her body was autopsied on Tuesday. The 31-year-old had previously attracted attention several times and had been placed in a psychiatric hospital three times by the police, said Andreas Franken, spokesman for the Munich police headquarters. The Munich woman was also known to the police for drug offenses. It was initially unclear whether she was also under the influence of drugs when the shooting occurred on Monday evening.
Evidence-gathering measures were underway in the store. The Bavarian State Criminal Police Office (LKA) and the public prosecutor’s office are investigating whether the use of firearms was legal. This is standard in a case like this, an LKA spokesperson told the German Press Agency.
