Ten years after Munich OEZ attack, parents still demand recognition as right-wing terror
On the tenth anniversary of the racist shooting at Munich's Olympia shopping centre, the parents of 14-year-old Can Leyla recount the night they learned of his death and their ongoing battle to have the attack classified as right-wing terror.
The attack and the desperate search
On 22 July 2016, Hasan Leyla was at work when his wife called in panic: their 14-year-old son Can was at the Olympia shopping centre (OEZ) in Munich, and shots had been fired. The couple rushed to the scene, then were taken by shuttle bus to a gathering point for relatives. They spent hours on hold with police, receiving what Hasan later described as zero information.
Information was zero, really zero point zero.
When he finally got through, a police officer told him Can's name was not on the list of the dead. But the boy remained missing, and the family kept searching through the night.
A 3:30 a.m. knock on the door
At 3:30 in the morning, a police officer arrived at their home. "I'm sorry, your son is dead," the father recalls the officer saying. In shock, he signed a form acknowledging the notification and handed it back. The officer then got into his patrol car and drove away. Sibel Leyla believes authorities knew much earlier that Can was among the nine fatalities, all but one of them teenagers.
They knew from the beginning that he was among the dead. And they let us suffer until morning, without information.
The fight over the motive
In March 2017, prosecutors closed the investigation, describing the 18-year-old gunman as a psychologically troubled young man who had been bullied at school and targeted teenagers he saw as his tormentors. They said he had developed extreme xenophobia and used Nazi slogans, but concluded the attack was not politically motivated. The Leylas rejected that framing. All the victims had migrant names, Hasan points out, and the bullying narrative made the shooter look like "the poor guy" while casting their children as perpetrators.
Why isn't it called right-wing terror?
It took until October 2019 for investigators to reclassify the attack as right-wing extremist. For the Leylas, that came too late and still does not go far enough.
- 18-year-old gunman kills nine people at the Olympia shopping centre, then takes his own life.
- Police inform Hasan and Sibel Leyla that their son Can is among the dead.
- Prosecutors conclude the attack was not politically motivated, citing the shooter's psychological issues and bullying.
- Investigators reclassify the attack as right-wing extremist motivated.
Ten years of grief and anger
A decade on, the pain remains raw. The couple speak of disappointment and anger, not only at the police but also at the political response. They say they have felt repeatedly hurt and traumatised by the authorities' handling of the case. Alongside the other families of the nine victims, they continue to search for answers and want to push society to confront the racist nature of the violence. The tenth anniversary, they say, is not a moment of closure but a reminder of a promise they made to their son: that his death would not be forgotten and that the truth would be told.
