Earlier, police had said they were looking for up to three suspects in the attack at Munich's Olympia Shopping Centre (OEZ), citing eyewitness accounts.

"The perpetrator was an 18-year-old German-Iranian from Munich," police chief Hubertus Andrae told reporters.

"The motive or explanation for this crime is completely unclear," Andrae said, adding that the suspect had dual citizenship and "no criminal record".

Two men initially suspected as accomplices in the shooting who had left the scene in a car were later interviewed and cleared, police said.

Al Jazeera's David Chater, reporting from outside the shopping centre in Munich said that this appeared to be the work of one lone gunman.

"He was heard shouting at the top of the mall to a group of spectators ... that he was a German," Chater said, referencing a widely-circulated video posted on social media.

"Police are looking at two aspects of his background: one that he might had been anti-immigrant, and the other that he might had been radicalised in some way."

At least 21 people, including children, were wounded in the attack, 16 of whom were still being treated in hospital. State of emergency

The shooter's body was found about 1km away from the shopping centre. A red rucksack found near the body was being examined for explosives, police said.

The shooting triggered a series of evacuations of public places in the southern city, as well as suspension of public transportation and deployment of special forces.

Munich authorities said early on Saturday that people could now leave their homes after an earlier warning to keep of the streets.

They also said public transportation in the city was up and running again.

The shooting started shortly before 16:00 GMT, with authorities initially saying witnesses reported seeing three gunmen.

A video posted on social media appeared to show a man dressed in black walking away from a McDonald's fast food restaurant while firing repeatedly on people as they fled.

A wide area around the busy shopping centre was closed off as special forces rushed to the scene.

"The police was just flying by - another car about every 15 or 30 seconds," Ryan Sink, who was passing by the shopping centre, said.

"No one really knew what was going on," Sink told Al Jazeera.

"We were all pulling over frantically and watching them set up a perimeter ... Police were telling people passing by to get out of the way and away from the buildings."

German Chancellor Angela Merkel was being regularly briefed during the attack, Peter Altmaier, her chief of staff, said on Friday.

In response to the attack, Facebook activated its safety feature, allowing Munich residents and visitors to let their friends know they were unharmed.

- News24.com