Incendiary devices thrown at construction site

During the night leading into Thursday, two individuals traveling in a passenger car threw incendiary devices onto a construction site in Munich. An eyewitness spotted the act and immediately alerted local law enforcement, enabling police units to locate and arrest the suspects at a nearby petrol station shortly after the incident. One of the thrown devices ignited a fire that responding police officers extinguished directly at the scene. Emergency personnel discovered a second incendiary device on the grounds and successfully defused it before it could detonate. Authorities confirmed that the incident caused no injuries and resulted in no extensive structural damage. The two individuals detained in the operation were identified as a 28-year-old Bulgarian woman and a 38-year-old Bulgarian man.

Pre-trial detention and apartment searches

On Friday, an investigating judge issued formal arrest warrants for both suspects, placing them in pre-trial detention. The Munich General Public Prosecutor's Office and the Bavarian State Criminal Police Office stated that the two Bulgarian nationals face charges of property damage and attempted arson. In parallel with the judicial proceedings, police conducted coordinated searches of three separate residential apartments located across the district of Munich (Landkreis München). Officers confiscated numerous physical items and materials during the searches, and forensic units are currently examining the seized evidence. A spokesperson for the State Criminal Police Office confirmed that investigators have not identified any additional suspects in the case.

Proximity to Helsing and Rohde and Schwarz facilities

The construction site targeted in the attack is located in the immediate vicinity of corporate facilities belonging to two security and defense technology companies. One neighboring headquarters belongs to Helsing, a defense technology company that manufactures artificial intelligence software and AI-guided combat drones supplied to the Ukrainian armed forces in their conflict against Russia. The neighboring complex also houses the headquarters of Rohde & Schwarz, a family-owned enterprise that produces specialized measurement and security technology and maintains a dedicated military division. State investigators noted that it remains unresolved whether the corporate buildings themselves were the intended target of the thrown incendiaries.

Counter-terrorism probe and Bavarian defense industry

Due to the suspected political motivation behind the attack, the Munich General Public Prosecutor's Office assumed control of the investigation through its specialized Bavarian Central Office for Combating Extremism and Terrorism. Bavarian Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann and lead investigators confirmed that they are treating the incident as politically motivated. German security agencies have noted an increased threat environment for domestic defense infrastructure following the escalation of the war in Ukraine. Bavaria and the Munich metropolitan area serve as core hubs for the German arms sector, with data from the Bavarian Ministry of Economic Affairs indicating that Bavarian firms generated one third of all national defense revenue last year. The sector employed 45,000 people across the state, with payrolls and revenues expanding as European NATO member states increase defense expenditures.