Shock at the Oktoberfest

What was behind the large-scale operation in Munich

The tradesman Martin P. was considered nice and reliable. However, a dispute over money may have been the last straw for him.(Bild: Privat, Krone KREATIV)

Shots, booby traps and explosions caused a state of emergency in Munich on Wednesday. Two people died and two others were injured. The Oktoberfest had to be closed. The background is a completely escalated family dispute that caused Martin P. (57) to mutate into an ice-cold killer.

The inconspicuous Martin P. last lived in Starnberg (Bavaria) and earned his living as an all-round handyman for house and garden, as "Bild" research revealed. He offered his services on the Internet, where he posed in photographs with a pipe wrench and drill. Wearing a jacket and cropped hair, he proudly presented pictures of his work. He was praised with excellent reviews on the tradesman portal "Myhammer". "Installation was done excellently," writes one customer. "The tradesman is easy to contact and reliable," wrote another. Or: "All in all, very satisfied, I can only recommend Mr. P."

In his private life, however, things must have looked anything but rosy for the German: He had felt betrayed by his family. In a letter that the police discovered in a mailbox in the neighborhood, Martin P. reported inheritance disputes with his parents. It also contained the sentence: "Don't go to the Oktoberfest. There's another bombastic surprise there." The festival was therefore closed until late afternoon - only then were the officials able to give the all-clear.

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Horrific act in his own parents' house
Instead, the man carried out a serious attack in his parents' house: early on Wednesday morning, he booby-trapped it and set it alight. Three explosions were triggered and shots were fired. The father (90) was killed by gunfire, Martin P.'s mother (81) and daughter (21) were injured. Bavaria's Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann (CSU) told a press conference that Martin P. had filed a complaint some time ago and denied paternity for the daughter. During the investigation, however, the biological relationship was confirmed. The man was convinced that the institute had been bribed.

According to Bild, Martin P. deliberately set fire to the house after the murder. A van had burnt out in front of the house. When the police arrived with special forces, they found more booby traps - hand grenades with tripwires. The 57-year-old then allegedly went to Lake Lerchenau, a five-minute drive away, with a rucksack containing a booby trap. There he shot himself in the head, but is not believed to have succumbed to his injuries immediately.

A "phantom" in the neighborhood
Neither the butcher's shop, the post office nor the nearby bakery know Martin P. He is not even known to a 94-year-old neighbor who has lived here since 1950. "We heard the sirens here earlier and saw police cars," said an employee of the butcher's shop to the news portal "Focus Online". "It gives you goose bumps," says the sales clerk after learning about the background. "You can't even imagine it." A local resident knew the killer by sight. He was a quiet type and apparently lived alone in a granny apartment.

"State of emergency" in the morning
Until the Wiesn reopened at 5.30 p.m., people in the Bavarian capital lived through anxious hours. Hours of uncertainty. "There is a state of emergency. Police and helicopters are circling over the city, people are searching everywhere for clues. People are very anxious," reported "Krone" sports boss Peter Moizi, who is currently in Munich, this morning. The authorities subsequently sent out a warning message to cell phones in Munich. It warned of "extreme danger". Which has since been averted.

Oktoberfest attack in 1980
The festival has repeatedly been the focus of security issues. Almost exactly 45 years ago, on September 26, 1980, the most serious act of terrorism in the history of the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) took place at the Oktoberfest. A bomb exploded at the main entrance, killing 13 people and injuring 221 others, 68 of them seriously.

The perpetrator was identified as 21-year-old Gundolf Köhler - he himself died in the attack. He was a member of the neo-Nazi Viking Youth and the Wehrsportgruppe Hoffmann (WSG). According to the results of the investigation, this group of followers had nothing to do with this horrific act - he probably carried it out alone and for personal reasons. It may have been an extended suicide.

If you or someone close to you is in an exceptional psychological situation, please contact the telephone helpline on 142. You can find other crisis hotlines and emergency numbers here.