BERLIN (AP) — A man who sold the pistol used by a teenager in a deadly 2016 shooting rampage in Munich was convicted Friday of involuntary manslaughter and other offenses. He was sentenced to seven years in prison.
FILE – In this July 23, 2016 file photo people gather to mourn with flower tributes near to the Olympia shopping center where a shooting took place leaving nine people dead the day before in Munich, Germany. A man who sold the pistol used by a teenager in the deadly 2016 shooting rampage in Munich has been convicted of involuntary manslaughter and other offenses and sentenced to seven years in prison, Friday, Jan. 19, 2018. (AP Photo/Jens Meyer, file)
The 33-year-old German, identified only as Philipp K. in line with local privacy laws, admitted when his trial opened last summer that he sold the weapon and ammunition to David S., the 18-year-old who killed nine and wounded others at a mall in July 2016 before killing himself.
The Munich state court convicted him of nine counts of involuntary manslaughter and five of involuntary bodily harm, as well as violating weapons laws, news agency dpa reported.
K. has testified that he sold the weapon on the “darknet,” a part of the web accessible only with specialized identity-cloaking tools. But he said he had no idea it would be used for an attack.
In August, he apologized to the victims of the attack in a statement read by his attorney, saying if he had known that the teenager “would commit such a horrible act” he would have never sold him the Glock 17 pistol.
Investigators have said the assailant was a victim of bullying who suffered from panic attacks and depression.
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