Shooting suspect in Germany had fixation on deadly rampages

MUNICH — The gunman whose rampage at a Munich mall killed nine people was a depression-plagued teenager who avidly read books and articles about mass killings and apparently tried to lure young victims to their deaths through a faked Facebook posting, authorities said Saturday.

Information from witnesses indicated that his hatred of foreigners might have played a role in the attack, even though he himself was the German-born son of Iranian asylum-seekers.

Police said a search of the backpack lying next to his corpse revealed the shooter was carrying more than 300 rounds for the 9mm handgun he used to kill his victims.

Earlier that day, the shooter hacked a Facebook account and sent a message inviting people to come to the mall for a giveaway, said Robert Heimberger, the head of Bavaria’s criminal police.

Law enforcement officials think the Munich tragedy could be a copy-cat attack, considering it was carried out on the fifth anniversary of the killing of 77 people by Norwegian right-wing extremist Anders Behring Breivik.