The gunman, who was shot dead by police after he had opened fire with a vintage rifle, was an 18-year-old Austrian man, added Munich police chief Thomas Hampel, speaking at a joint press conference.

The exchange of gunfire sparked panic and a widespread police lockdown in the downtown area of the Bavarian state capital, near the Documentation Center for the History of National Socialism.

"Police responded with armed force against the perpetrator, who was carrying a rifle and had fired a number of shots," said Herrmann. The gunman died of his wounds.

"The identity of the suspect must now be clarified, as well as his motives," Herrman added.

It was "obvious that the crime scene" near the Israeli diplomatic mission and documentation centre "could provide further clues" about the gunman's motive, he said.

Herrman pointed that Thursday marks "the 52nd anniversary of the attack on the Israeli team during the Olympic Games" of 1972.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog expressed "horror" at what he described as a "terror attack" near the diplomatic mission and close to a Nazi-era historical exhibit.

Munich police wrote on X that, after the shooting, there were "no indications of any other suspects" and that no one else had been wounded.

Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser labelled it a "serious incident".

Its location was a "bitter pill to swallow", she added, stressing that "the protection of Jewish and Israeli institutions is of the highest priority".