Munich police shoot gunman dead amid ‘major’ operation in city center
Police officers secure the area around the Koenigsplatz square after a shooting near the building of the Documentation Centre for the History of National Socialism (NS-Dokumentationszentrum) in Munich, southern Germany, on September 5, 2024. (PAULINE CURTET/AFP via Getty Images)
(LONDON) — Munich police shot a “suspicious person” in the Karolinenplatz area of the southern German city on Thursday morning, authorities said, adding they had launched a “major operation.”
“Police officers spotted a person who appeared to be carrying a firearm,” Munich’s police force said in an initial statement on social media. “The emergency services used their service weapons and the person was hit and injured.”
“The weapon used by the suspect is an older long gun,” a later police update clarified. “The suspect was fatally injured in the shootout. There are still no indications of further suspects or other injured persons.”
The area was cordoned off, with a helicopter in the air above the scene, the force said.
The shooting occurred next to the city’s Nazi Documentation Center, police said.
“Many emergency services are on their way to the site of operations,” the force noted. “We ask that you avoid this area as much as possible.”
The Nazi Documentation Center is one of the city’s most popular museums, located midway between the famous Karolinenplatz and Königsplatz squares just northwest of the medieval old town. It is less than 500 feet from the Israeli Consulate.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry confirmed that there had been a “shooting incident” close to the consulate, noting that the facility was closed on Thursday coinciding with the anniversary of the deadly terror attack at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich.
“No one from the consulate staff was injured in the incident,” the ministry’s spokesperson said. “The shooter was neutralized by the German security forces and the incident is under their care.”
(From L to R) Kenya’s Rosemary Wanjiru, Israel’s Lonah Chemtai Salpeter, Uganda’s Rebecca Cheptegei and Kenya’s Selly Chepyego Kaptich compete in the women’s marathon final during the World Athletics Championships in Budapest on August 26, 2023. (FERENC ISZA/AFP via Getty Images)
(LONDON) — Ugandan long-distance runner Rebecca Cheptegei has died four days after being doused in petrol and set on fire by her former partner, authorities have announced.
Cheptegei — who had been receiving treatment at Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in Eldoret City, Kenya — succumbed to her injuries after sustaining burns to almost 80% of her body in the attack which occurred on Sunday.
Cheptegei was doused with a can of gasoline before being set on fire during an argument over land, according to a police report. Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital announced Cheptegei had passed away at the age of 33 after her organs failed on Thursday, according to hospital spokesperson Owen Menach.
“We have learnt of the sad passing of our Olympic athlete Rebecca Cheptegei following a vicious attack by her boyfriend,” Donald Rukare, head of Uganda’s Olympics Committee, announced on Thursday writing on X. “May her gentle soul rest in peace and we strongly condemn violence against women. This was a cowardly and senseless act that has led to the loss of a great athlete. Her legacy will continue to endure.”
The Ugandan marathon runner had recently competed in the women’s marathon at the 2024 Paris Olympics, finishing in 44th place with a personal best time this season of 2:32:14, just a month before the fatal attack.
The Ugandan athlete had been living in northwestern Kenya, her father saying she recently bought land in Trans Nzoia County to build a home and be closer to Kenya’s athletics training centers.
Cheptegei’s Kenyan partner who carried out the attack — identified as Dickson Ndiema — is said to have sustained “serious burns” in the attack and is receiving treatment at the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital.
Uganda’s Athletics Federation said they are “deeply saddened” by the passing of Cheptegei.
“We are deeply saddened to announce the passing of our athlete, Rebecca Cheptegei early this morning who tragically fell victim to domestic violence,” the federation announced on Thursday. “As a federation, we condemn such acts and call for justice.”
The incident is the latest in a string of domestic violence cases against female athletes in Kenya.
In 2021, Kenyan distance runner Agnes Tirop was found stabbed to death in her home in Iten, in northwest Kenya. Just a few weeks earlier the rising athletics star had set a new women’s 10 kilometer road running record at the “Adizero: Road to Records” event in Herzogenaurach, Germany.
Tirop’s husband — Ibrahim Rotich — was subsequently arrested and charged with her murder. The case is currently ongoing.
Just a year later in 2022, Kenyan-Bahraini athlete Damaris Muthee Mutua, 28, was found murdered at her home in the same town, with Kenya’s Directorate of Criminal Investigations saying her cause of death was strangulation.
Kenyan police launched a manhunt for Mutua’s Ethiopian boyfriend — Eskinder Hailemaryam Folie — who is the main suspect in her murder and is alleged to have fled Kenya.
(LONDON) — At least one person was killed and eight others remained trapped Wednesday after a hotel partially collapsed near the banks of the Mosel River in western Germany, police said.
Police said they believed 14 people were inside the hotel in the winemaking town of Kroev at the time of the collapse late Tuesday evening.
Five people escaped unharmed, while the other nine were buried beneath the rubble, police said.
“Due to the damage, this is an extremely demanding operation, as the building can only be entered by emergency services with the greatest caution,” police said in a statement.
As of Wednesday morning, one person had been confirmed dead but their body had yet to be recovered.
Eight others, including some who were seriously injured, were believed to be still trapped, according to police.
Search and rescue operations were ongoing, police said.
(PARIS) — Pavel Durov, the Russian-born billionaire CEO of the social media messaging app Telegram, was indicted in France for allegedly allowing criminal activity on the platform, prosecutors announced Wednesday.
Durov was placed under judicial supervision and is banned from leaving the country, according to the Paris Prosecutor’s Office.
He avoided jail by paying a 5 million euro bail, prosecutors said. He must report to a police station twice a week for check-ins.
The indictment comes the same day the CEO was released from police custody after being arrested in connection with an “ongoing judicial investigation,” prosecutors told ABC News.
Durov, 39, was arrested at Le Bourget airport outside Paris shortly after landing on a private jet late on Aug. 24. French President Emmanuel Macron confirmed his arrest two days later.
Durov is accused of allegedly being passive with regard to cyber and financial crimes being committed on the Telegram platform and was indicted on 12 charges, according to the Paris Prosecutor’s Office.
The charges are related to child pornography, drug trafficking and fraudulent transactions on the platform, prosecutors announced Monday.
In his statement, Macron maintained that Durov’s arrest was “not political,” saying, “France is more than anything attached to freedom of expression and communication, to innovation and to the spirit of enterprise. It will remain so.”
What is Telegram?
Telegram is one of the most popular messaging apps in the world, with approximately 800 million active users and a large user base in Russia and Ukraine.
Launched in 2013, Telegram was designed to address growing concerns about digital privacy and censorship. Unlike many messaging apps of the time, Telegram was built with a focus on security, offering end-to-end encryption and features that prioritized user privacy.
The rise of the app’s popularity was meteoric, making Durov among the wealthiest people in the world. He is estimated to have a net worth of approximately $15.5 billion, according to Forbes.
The app distinguished itself from competitors such as Facebook Messenger, WeChat and WhatsApp with its commitment to free speech and resistance to government censorship.
The app has positioned itself as a refuge for activists and journalists. Its features include self-destructing messages, secret chats and robust channel functionalities.
Additionally, Telegram offers a platform for larger messaging groups, allowing 200,000 users to be added to a chat.
Because of the large group sizes, Telegram has been criticized for hosting far-right and extremist groups. Most recently, the U.K. government denounced Telegram for its role in extremist groups organizing riots across the country in July.
Who is Pavel Durov?
Born in Leningrad, now Saint Petersburg, Russia in 1984, Durov began his foray into technology entrepreneurship in 2006, founding the Russian social network VKontakte (VK).
Likened to Facebook, VK quickly gained traction among Russian-speaking users, offering a platform for social interaction, content sharing and networking.
However, the platform’s success attracted scrutiny from the Russian government, and Durov faced increasing pressure to comply with government requests for user data.
In 2014, Durov was forced to leave VK after refusing to comply with demands to shut down opposition communities on the platform.
He reportedly refused to block late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s page on the platform.
After leaving his position at VK, Durov left Russia and moved to Dubai, where he runs Telegram, which was founded a year prior in 2013.
Frequently traveling to Europe from the United Arab Emirates, Durov was granted citizenship in France in 2021.
Response to Durov’s arrest
In the wake of Durov’s arrest over the weekend, Elon Musk posted #FreePavel on X, sharing a clip of the Telegram founder’s previous interview with Tucker Carlson.
U.S. whistleblower Edward Snowden called Durov’s arrest “an assault on the basic human rights of speech and association” in a post on X.
“I am surprised and deeply saddened that Macron has descended to the level of taking hostages as a means for gaining access to private communications. It lowers not only France, but the world,” Snowden wrote.
ABC News’ Hugo Leenhardt and Ellie Kaufman contributed to this report.
