MUNICH: An 18-year-old German-Iranian gunman who apparently acted alone opened fire in a busy shopping mall in Munich on Friday evening, killing at least nine people in the third attack against civilians in western Europe in eight days.

The pistol-wielding attacker, identified by Munich Police Chief Hubertus Andrae as a dual national, was later found dead of a suspected self-inflicted gunshot wound to his head.

What we know

• At least nine dead, say police
• Gunman identified as German-Iranian
• The gunman acted alone and then committed suicide
• Several wounded being treated at nearby hospitals
• Shoppers at mall targeted by the attacker

Police, citing eyewitness accounts, had initially said they were looking for up to three suspects in the shooting attack at the Munich Olympia Shopping Centre that sent shoppers fleeing in panic and shut traffic across the city.

But authorities told a news conference early on Saturday the shooter was believed to have staged the attack alone, opening fire in a fast food restaurant before moving on to the mall.

Sixteen people, including several children, were injured in the attack and three were in critical condition, Andrae said.

Police gave a “cautious all clear” early Saturday morning, more than seven hours after the gunman opened fire.

A video posted on social media appeared to show a man dressed in black walking away from a McDonald's restaurant while firing repeatedly on people as they fled screaming.

There was no known motive for the shooting in Germany's third largest city, which went into lockdown with transport halted and highways sealed off immediately after the attack. By early Saturday, transport services were running again, Munich police said.

It was the third major act of violence against civilians in western Europe in eight days. Previous attacks in France and Germany were claimed by the militant Islamic State (IS) group.

“The motives for this abhorrent act have not yet been completely clarified — we still have contradictory clues,” German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said in a statement.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility so far.

US intelligence officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said initial reports from their German counterparts indicated no apparent link between the shooter and IS or other militant groups.

The gunman, whose body was found on a side street near the mall, was not identified by name but Andrae said he was not previously known to police.

The mall is next to the Munich Olympic stadium, where the Palestinian militant group Black September took 11 Israeli athletes hostage and eventually killed them during the 1972 Olympic Games.

Friday's attack took place a week after a 17-year-old asylum-seeker assaulted passengers on a German train with an axe. Bavarian police shot the teenager dead after he wounded four people from Hong Kong on the train and injured a local resident while fleeing.

The police chief said there were no immediate similarities between Friday's attack and the incident on the train near the southern German city of Wuerzburg.

Chancellor Angela Merkel will convene her security council on Saturday to address the deadly rampage in the European economic powerhouse which took in more than one million migrants and refugees last year.

“We are determined to do everything we can so that terror and inhuman violence stand no chance in Germany,” her chief of staff Peter Altmaier said.

Murderous attack

German President Joachim Gauck said he was “horrified” by the “murderous attack”, while Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere, who was on a flight to New York when the shooting began, will return to Germany.

The shooting was a “disgusting terrorist attack” aimed at stirring up fear in Germany after France was targeted last week, French President Francois Hollande 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,” Hollande said in a statement.

“Germany will resist, it can count on France's friendship and cooperation,” he said.

US President Barack Obama also voiced staunch support for America's close ally.

“Our hearts go out to those who may have been injured. It's still an active situation, and Germany's one of our closest allies, so we are going to pledge all the support that they may need in dealing with these circumstances,” Obama said.

Austria said it has “significantly” tightened security measures in states sharing a border with Germany and put its elite Cobra police force on high alert.