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While not yet confirmed by officials, he has been named by acquantinces as Ali Sonboly, described as a loner and a "quiet guy". Munich Police Chief Hubertus Andrae revealed the teenage mass murderer was not previously known to police. Heavily armed officers last night raided an apartment in the district of Maxvorstadt that they believe belong to the warped killer. Teams searched a section of the building using night-vision glasses and dogs while emergency vehicles waited outside. Federal officers said 10 people are dead, including the gunman, and 16 people are wounded, three of them critically. Police confirmed children are among the deceased. German Chancellor Angela Merkel was on holiday in the Alps last night and is now returning to the grieving city.

One of the bodies recovered is that of the shooter, who killed himself after going on a deadly rampage inside a busy McDonalds restaurant and then the Olympia shopping centre. German media has claimed a robot and explosives experts searched the gunman's body, which has been found "with a red backpack" about 1km from the mall, but no information has been released as to the contents of the rucksack. Initial reports claimed there were three gunmen, but officers have now said there was just one derranged terrorist responsible for the massacre and that he was not previously known to police. The motive behind the attack is not yet understood.

REUTERS•PA•IG There are a number of deaths reported at the scene

Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said he has spoken to his German counterpart to offer his "condolences" and French President Francois Hollande has issued a message of support to the German people. He branded the shooting in Munich a “disgusting terrorist attack” aimed at stirring up fear in Germany after France was targeted last week. The French President said: “The terrorist attack that struck Munich killing many people is a disgusting act that aims to foment fear in Germany after other European countries. “Germany will resist, it can count on France’s friendship and cooperation,” he said, adding that he would speak with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Saturday morning." At the time of the shootings Munich's main railway station was evacuated and rail travel and local public transport in the area was stopped, but normal services have now resumed.

Twitter People flee the shopping centre in Munich

One mall employee trapped inside the centre at the time of the shooting said: ”Many shots were fired, I can't say how many but it's been a lot."All the people from outside came streaming into the store and I only saw one person on the ground who was so severely injured that he definitely didn't survive. "We have no further information, we're just staying in the back in the storage rooms. No police have approached us yet." One of the shopping centre victims is reported to be a young boy who was shot in the chest, another is believed to be 15. Klinikum Hospital in Munich has declared an emergency situation. A second shooting was initially reported in Stachus Square, however it has now been confirmed shots were only fired at the mall.

Twitter Munich Shooting: Police on the roof of the shopping centre

A police spokesman said the guns used in the attack were hand pistols. He said: “We first were alerted when someday entered the shopping centre with a weapon. And we rushed to the scene. We are doing what we can. The emergency call was to us that an armed man was on site. “Our main priority is the security of the population. “We are telling the people of Munich there are shooters on the run who are dangerous. “This is the biggest police operation in the last ten years that we have had to deal with. Munich police is very well trained.”

EXPRESS Munich shootings reported to police were close together

Videos have emerged of people running from the scene, close to the BMW headquarters. Footage shows a the gunman opening fire outside a McDonalds restaurant. The unverified video shows a man with dark hair, wearing a black t-shirt and denim trousers, taking aim at people near the Olympia-Einkaufszentrum metro station. He raises his arms, apparently holding a shotgun, and appears to fire at people outside the restaurant, who can be seen running for cover. The sound of multiple shots being fired can be heard as shoppers and passers-by run for cover. A woman named Loretta said she was in the McDonald's when the man with a gun came out of a bathroom and began shooting. She told CNN: “I come out of the toilet and I hear like an alarm, boom, boom, boom. He's killing the children. The children were sitting to eat. They can't run.” Loretta said she had been in the bathroom at the same time as the shooter, with her eight-year-old son. She said the man shouted “Allahu Akbar”.

EPA A shooter has killed 'multiple' people in Munich

Officers called for people in the city to stay indoors. The force in Munich wrote online: "Avoid the area around the shopping mall - Stay in your flats. Leave the streets! "At this time we have a major operation underway. The situation is still unclear. A Munich Police spokesman, said the gunman may be among the : “We need to know if there are some people still hiding, and we will double check. “Our task is to find out how this happened. “We have our forces who are examining the area. “We are still focusing on whether they have an Islamic background. “We are very well prepared, there were no indications for this attack otherwise we would have done everything in our power.” Photos have emerged on social media sites of at least one body covered by aluminium sheets. Driving instructor Matthias Weber has just the driving school car want to switch from one operator to another, as the shots were fired. He said: ”I thought that they were firecrackers. Then suddenly hundreds of people ran past us, shouting, crying and shouting ‘Run, run’.” An official at the Munich Olympia Shopping Centre declined comment, saying only: "We are experiencing a problem." An eyewitness said: "All the streets around and about are blocked and people can be seen running away. It is chaos here."

@Ethnicity Police have stormed the shopping mall

Lynn Stein was inside the shopping centre at the time. She told CNN: “I was in a neighbouring store when shots were fired. “People started running. More shots were fired. “People were screaming. “Then I heard several shots at the parking house next to the mall. I went back inside the wall, to check on my co-workers. “When I went there there was a couple of people coming in towards me, and I told them to leave as I continued towards my store. “A man told me he saw a gunman. “I ran outside, and police told me to leave. Which I did. “This was about 15 minutes after it happened, and I was evacuated.” Today marks the five years anniversary of the murder of 77 Norwegians at the hands of a right-wing extremist named Anders Behring Breivik. Breivik killed eight in Oslo and 69 at a summer camp on Utoeya.

EPA Police have stormed the shopping centre after a shooting 'rampage'

Another video on social media a man can be heard yelling at suspect in the car park that he is a “w*****”. The brave German tells the gunman to lower his weapon and calls him an “a*******”. At this point the gunman attempts to defend himself - by stating he is a German national. He shouts: “I’m a German”. The man talking to him shouts: “You are a w*****!” The gunman tells him to “shut your trap”. Then he fires more shots and the rest of what is said is unintelligible. Although some translators have claimed the gunman tells those shouting at him he is a German man who grew up in a poor area. It is also claimed he made comments about "Turks".

Twitter Emergency services rushed to save the victims outside McDonalds

EPA Armed officers have flooded the city after the shooting

The shooting has come four days after five people were seriously hurt in an axe attack on a train in Wurzburg. A 17-year-old migrant carried out the attack on Monday evening, slashing through a train carriage after declaring on video his support for ISIS. The attacker was shot dead by police when he attempted to flee the scene. Police are advising people to stay inside their homes. A security expert said Germany is high on the Islamic State’s hit list.

Twitter Multiple deaths have been reported by police

Raffaello Pantucci, the directory of international security studies at the The Royal United Services Institute, said the Islamist death cult have Germany high on its agenda as an attack site. He said: "It is unclear what we are looking at right now but looking at the German context about terrorism, Germany was one of the countries concerned about in respect of the threat. "It's a country Daesh or Islamic State have expressed an interest in attacking. "They see it as one of the countries fighting in the alliance against them, it's a a country with a lot of attention around immigration and it's a major European power. "We have seen a number of attacks and scares in Germany so it makes sense Germany is a country that would be targeted but at the moment we don't know what we are dealing with." Britain's Foreign Office issued an alert warning British citizens in the German city of Munich to follow the instructions of the authorities, after police there reported many people had been killed in a shooting at a shopping centre.

Twitter An unconfirmed image of a shooter has emerged

Briton Victor Wood, who lives in Munich, said: “It took about four or five minutes for police to arrive I would say. We managed to get on one of the last trains before they closed the transport system. “Before I came out to Germany, I had been in the air force, so I am used to the sound of gunshots, and it was definitely shooting – you don’t hear that kind of sound in the city. “No one expects something like this to happen in their front garden. “I think Munich is well equipped to handle it though. Police presence is fairly low key, police officers have weapons but you don’t see people walking around with machine guns, for example.” Nightclubs across Munich have said they will be closed for business this evening as police continue to search for gunmen. Islamic State fans have celebrated the killings on social media.

Munich shooting: Teenage gunman kills nine at shopping centre Sat, July 23, 2016 An 18-year-old German-Iranian gunman kills nine then himself at shopping centre in Munich. Play slideshow 1 of 32

Refuge was offered to people stranded near Munich through social media. In response, hundreds of people took to Twitter using the hashtag £OffeneTur - or £OpenDoor - inviting people to stay if they are unable to get home. Facebook's Safety Check feature has also been activated so that people can let friends and family know that they are safe. It was most recently used in the wake of the Nice attack earlier in this month. People also opened their homes under the hashtag £PorteOuverte during the Nice attack and Paris attacks in November to help people find safety.

More than 100 people witnessed the massacre, which began at a McDonalds restaurant in Moosach, Munich, before the gunman moved through the mall, firing at will. Witnesses first reported a shooting in the Hanauer Street, then Riesstrae before it continued to the Olympia shopping centre, at around 6pm. It has also been claimed the gunman screamed “I’m German” and “f*** foreigners” before shooting. A police spokeswoman said at the time: “We believe we are dealing with a shooting rampage. We are reckoning on several dead.”

EPA German emergency services are searching for gunmen

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said: “The motives for this abhorrent act have not yet been completely clarified - we still have contradictory clues. “Local authorities are doing all they can to save lives.” US president Barack Obama led the messages of condolence. He said: "Our hearts go out to those who may have been injured. It's still an active situation and Germany is one of our closest allies so we are going to pledge all the support that they may need in dealing with these circumstances." He said it was a "good reminder" that people's "way of life, our freedoms, our ability to go about our business every day" was dependent on law enforcement. A British Foreign Office spokesman said: "We are urgently seeking further information following the ongoing incident in Munich. We are touch with the relevant authorities." Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said on Twitter: "Deeply shocked & saddened by Munich shootings. My thoughts are w/ the victims, their loved ones & all Germany at this time."

EPA A huge scale response has been launched in Munich after a shooting spree