2016 Munich shooting

On 22 July 2016, a mass shooting classified as a right-wing extremist attack occurred in the vicinity of the Olympia shopping mall in the Moosach district of Munich, Germany. The perpetrator, 18-year-old Iranian-German David Sonboly, opened fire on teenagers with migrant background at a McDonald's restaurant before shooting at bystanders in the street outside and then in the mall itself. Nine people were killed – most of them with immigrant backgrounds – and 36 others were injured, four of them by gunfire.

Sonboly, who had been influenced by far-right ideology, xenophobia, and racist beliefs, hid nearby for more than two hours and killed himself by a self-inflicted gunshot wound when confronted by police. Later investigations determined that the attack was politically motivated and driven by right-wing extremist views.

Two reports by Bavaria's State Office of Criminal Investigation and another by the public prosecutor's office concluded the shooting was not political, saying Sonboly's main motive was "revenge" for bullying by others from immigrant backgrounds, and that mental illness, romantic rejection and obsession with other shooting rampages were also a factor. Germany's security agency described him as a "psychologically ill avenger".

An independent report by three political scientists said Sonboly may also have been driven by xenophobia or far-right ideology. Der Spiegel reported in 2016 that fellow online video gamers said that Sonboly wrote anti-Turkish messages, admired Germany's right-wing AfD party, and was "very nationalistic". According to media reports, some of those who knew him said he considered himself part of the Aryan race, and boasted about sharing the same birthday as Adolf Hitler. In the light of this, several politicians urged the police to focus on his possible political motives and in 2019 Bavarian police declared that the shooting was partly motivated by far-right extremism. The attack took place on the fifth anniversary of the 2011 Norway attacks.