Bavarian Oktoberfest Reopens After Fatal Fire Assault and Explosives Warning

A individual from Germany perpetrated a deadly rampage involving shooting, bombs, and intentional fires against his family before taking his own life on Wednesday, prompting safety concerns in the Bavarian capital that led to the seven-hour shutdown of the world-famous Oktoberfest.

Authorities decided to shut down the event for a short period after discovering a note the man had dropped in a nearby mailbox that included a ambiguous warning directed at the city's Oktoberfest.

Munich's leader then issued the all-clear in the afternoon, and the event resumed in the night.

Law enforcement stated that the individual in his late 50s had shot at his parents using a homemade firearm in an attack that began in the early hours.

Subsequently, he set their house on fire, having earlier rigged the residence with explosives.

Police said they believed he had likely killed his 90-year-old father, whose remains was seen but could not be retrieved from the still-burning house in the city's green northern Lerchenau district.

The man also shot his elderly mother, who was subsequently transported for medical care with injuries not considered life-threatening.

His 21-year-old daughter was also hurt but was saved by firefighters from the upper level, having threatened to jump to flee the fire.

The individual, who has not been named, fled after a police helicopter spotted him in the yard.

After a short pursuit, he stopped in a park by the lake and killed himself.

Explosives units were dispatched because the man had rigged the building with bomb materials – allegedly grenades attached to trip wires – and was also carrying an explosives-laden backpack.

Throughout the incident, he had also set three vehicles ablaze outside the residence, including his own vehicle.

The crime sparked a large-scale law enforcement response shortly before 5:00 am local time and then the evacuation of local inhabitants and a local school.

Approximately 500 emergency personnel were deployed during the daylong crisis management efforts.

A state official stated there was no indication of a political or religious motive.

"Evidence suggests, as difficult as it is to understand, that this was exclusively a domestic issue," he added.

City authorities acted on the alarm by declaring the short-term shutdown of the festival, regarded as the biggest event of its kind globally.

This annual celebration, held from 20 September to early October this year, attracted millions of visitors in 2024.

The event experienced a 1980 attack when a far-right group set off a pipe bomb, claiming the lives of 13 people and injuring over two hundred others.