Investigators suspect Munich gunman inspired by Winnenden school shooting

The 18-year-old German-Iranian gunman who killed nine people then himself in Munich on Friday (July 22) seemed to have been inspired by the school shooting in the southwestern town of Winnenden, a Bavarian state official said on Sunday (July 24).

The Munich shooter began planning the attack one year ago after visiting the site of the 2009 shooting that killed 15 people, the president of the Bavarian state crime office Robert Heimberger told reporters. He said photographs of the Winnenden site had been found on the attacker’s digital camera.

In March 2009, a 17-year-old former student of the Albertville Realschule in Winnenden shot dead nine students and three teachers as well as one person at a nearby clinic before killing himself during a shootout with police.

German media have named the Munich gunman as Ali David Sonboly.