Cell phone footage from outside a McDonald’s restaurant shows the terrifying moment a man appears to open fire on Hanauer St. outside Munich’s Olympia Einkaufszentrum Shopping Centre Friday afternoon.
Police say at least eight people were killed and several others injured during the incident.
READ MORE: At least 8 dead in ‘shooting rampage’ at shopping mall in Munich, Germany
“At the moment, we have a large police operation. Please avoid the area around the shopping centre,” read a tweet from Munich Police.
The video shows a man leaving the McDonald’s outside the shopping centre before raising his arm and shooting several times. People can be seen fleeing the area. Eye-witness statements are also painting a picture of what happened during the moments after the attack started.
Cansu Muyan told the Guardian that she lives near the mall and was home when the attack started.
“I suddenly saw everyone running past. Then a shopkeeper told us all to leave as quickly as possible so we all started running as well,” Muyan said.
Lynn Stein told CNN she works at a Jack Wolfskin store in the mall and was nearby when the rampage started.
“People started running. I went outside as well; more people (were) running outside. I think I heard more shots. Then it sounded like he went to the parking house next to the mall — several shots there.”
“I saw … somebody lying on the floor, presumably dead, I don’t know. Or badly hurt. And there’s a woman over them, crying.”
Police herded her away from the scene, CNN reported.
“And we just stayed there for a while until police told us to go further back and further back,” she said.
A video shared on social media shows police herding shoppers with their hands up in the mall. The shoppers are then told to lie on the ground.
While the Munich police have only confirmed gunshots outside the mall, many other parts of the city were in a panic as reports of shots fired poured in.
An Edmonton woman told Global News she is still in shock after running away from what she describes as gunfire at a restaurant 10 kilometres away from the mall.
READ MORE: Munich shooting: Edmonton woman in Germany still shaking from chaos
“Everyone from the front of the restaurant started running towards us screaming. We didn’t know why. I grabbed my boyfriend and the only thing I could think to do was to hide under the table,” Anna Macht said.
She said, roughly 20 seconds later, she heard gunfire. She fled the restaurant through the back door but came upon a frantic scene.
“It was complete chaos. Everyone was screaming, running by the time we got out of the restaurant,” she said.
READ MORE: Germans open their homes during Munich Shooting
Police have asked people to stay away from public areas during the active search for the gunmen. People in the area are opening their doors to shelter people using the hashtag #OpenDoor or #OffenTur.
Facebook has also activated its Safety Check feature to help people let their loved ones whether or not they are out of harm’s way.
*With files from Julia Wong.