On September 5 , 1972 , the Palestinian terrorist movement Black September infiltrated the Summer Olympic Games in Munich , West Germany , to kidnap 11 Israeli athletes , killing two in the Olympic Village in the initial assault on the athletes ' rooms . The incident culminated when German police - who were not trained or equipped for counter-terrorism operations , and had underestimated the number of terrorists involved - attempted to rescue the athletes . Police did not have a specialized tactical sniper team at that time . The army had snipers , but the German Constitution did not allow the use of German Armed Forces on German soil during peacetime
kidnap
Munich massacre
GSG 9