David Sonboly was an 18-year-old Iranian-German with dual nationality. He was born Ali Sonboly on 20 April 1998 and was raised in Munich, Germany. In May 2016, he changed his first name in official documents from Ali to David. He lived with his parents and younger brother in the Maxvorstadt area of Munich. Neighbours described him as polite, and he was reported to have worked part-time distributing a local free newspaper. He had no criminal record reported in the material you provided.

His family background was described as Iranian, with parents who came to Germany as asylum seekers in the 1990s. He was described as growing up in a secular household. His parents told police he may have converted to Christianity, while also stating he was not religious.

He had received psychiatric treatment and was described as having depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder. In 2015, he reportedly spent about two months as an inpatient in a mental health facility. Accounts described him as isolated and affected by bullying over multiple years, including physical abuse. The same reporting described him as developing hostility toward people of similar age and background to those he believed had bullied him.

Multiple strands of reporting and later analysis described his interest in mass shootings and rampage attacks. Investigators said he possessed written materials about such attacks and had collected clippings and books on the topic, including a book on school shooters. He was described as having visited Winnenden, a location associated with a prior school shooting, and as being influenced by the 2011 Norway attacks, with his shooting taking place on their fifth anniversary.

The motive and ideological classification were described inconsistently across different official and independent assessments. Some reports said investigations concluded the shooting was not political, describing him primarily as an “avenger” motivated by revenge for bullying, alongside mental illness, romantic rejection, and obsession with other rampage killings. Other reporting and analysis described xenophobic and far-right views, including anti-Turkish messages, admiration for a right-wing party, and statements about “Aryan” identity. In 2019, Bavarian police later described the shooting as a politically motivated crime that was at least partly driven by right-wing extremist views.

On the evening of 22 July 2016, David Sonboly carried out a mass shooting in the area around the Olympia shopping mall in the Moosach district of Munich, Germany. The attack began near a McDonald’s restaurant and continued outside on nearby streets and in the mall area. The victims were largely teenagers and young people, and many were described as having immigrant backgrounds. The incident was later described in some reporting as a right-wing extremist attack, while other official reports initially treated it as a non-terrorist rampage.

According to the account you provided, Sonboly created a fake Facebook account using a girl’s name and posted invitations encouraging people to come to the restaurant. He remained in or around the McDonald’s from roughly late afternoon. Shortly before the shooting began, he went into the restaurant’s toilets and left a manifesto on his laptop. He then opened fire on a group of teenagers inside the restaurant, killing multiple people and wounding another. After that first burst of gunfire, he moved outside and continued shooting at people fleeing in the area and at nearby bystanders.

He then crossed into the Olympia shopping mall and shot another teenager near the lifts. After moving toward a multi-storey car park connected by a footbridge, he fired additional shots that did not cause further fatalities in that segment of the event. He reached the top deck of the car park and became involved in a shouting exchange with residents observing from balconies. During that exchange, he fired shots; one man was wounded by bullet fragments caused by ricochet, according to the description provided. Police officers later spotted him, and at least one officer fired at him but missed.

After leaving the car park area, Sonboly ran across a street and hid in a residential neighbourhood. He attempted to enter a building and stayed for a time in a stairwell, with residents reporting contact. He later hid in a bicycle storage room. At approximately 18:26, he was confronted by police officers and died by suicide from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.

Nine people were killed in the attack, and Sonboly’s death brought the total number of deaths to ten including the perpetrator. Your material contains differing injury totals: one section states 36 were injured with four by gunfire, while another section states 16 were injured with four by gunfire. Both figures have been reported in the text you provided, so the exact injury total cannot be confirmed from this excerpt alone.

The victims named in your text were Sevda Dağ (45), Hüseyin Dayıcık (19), Selçuk Kiliç (15), Giuliano Kollmann (18), Can Leyla (14), Roberto Rafael (15), Armela Segashi (14), Sabina Sulaj (14), and Dijamant Zabergja (reported as 20 or 21). The victims were described as having diverse backgrounds, including Turkish, Kosovan, Hungarian, Romanian-origin German, and Sinti and Roma community ties. Authorities initially stated that victims were not selected in a particular way and that Sonboly did not know them, while other accounts argued he may have targeted people of certain backgrounds connected to his personal grievances.

Investigators stated he had planned the attack for about a year and believed the handgun used was obtained illegally, described as a reactivated Glock 17 9mm pistol with the serial number removed. Police also recovered ammunition and examined items left at the scene, including his backpack and digital materials. In the days following the attack, police also investigated whether any associates failed to report prior knowledge of his plans. Later investigations examined his online contacts with other individuals connected to planned or later shootings.