A COUPLE from Brighton have told how they hid on the floor of a restaurant when a deranged teenager went on a killing spree in Germany.

Cara Mitchell and her husband Terry were in Munich on Friday night when teenager Ali Sonboly opened fire, killing nine people and injuring several more before turning a gun on himself.

Mrs Mitchell, 48, from Woodingdean, who is battling cancer, was enjoying a meal at a traditional pub and restaurant when the 18-year-old started shooting people at the Olympia shopping centre in Munich.

She said: "The waitresses started to ask us to go into the restaurant and my first thoughts were that they were getting us in to stay dry.

“Once in the restaurant the lights were turned off and the big iron gates in front of the door were locked.

“Within minutes we saw people running and there were screams and tears.

“As we were the only English people in the restaurant our fellow diners and staff began to translate there was a possible terrorist attack and there had been a shooting. The city was on lock down.

“At one point we were told to get on the floor out of sight but then were told just to stay seated at the back of the restaurant."

The restaurant was in an area where authorities feared a second shooter might have been before it emerged Sonboly was acting alone.

“Terry was a superstar, keeping me safe by the kitchen as there was a back door there, as we were all told we may have to run.

“The staff were amazing and carried on making sure we were comfortable and had drinks. They kept in touch with the police the whole time.

“After more than four hours lock down we were told we could leave with caution and were given a route back to our hotel.

“The German people on the street were so incredibly helpful, and we were surrounded by armed police on every corner.

“It was so amazingly organised and hats off to the German authorities for how they kept us all safe.”

Mrs Mitchell said her thoughts were with the families of all those killed.

Candlelit vigils were held in Munich at the weekend following the incident, which also left 27 people injured.

Ten of these are in a critical condition, including a 13-year-old boy.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the tragedy had plunged Germany into "deep and profound mourning" that left a "night of horror" lying behind the people of Munich.

Sonboly, 18, is thought to have lured victims to a McDonald's in Munich with a fake Facebook profile promising free food.

Among the dead were two 14-year-old Kosovan girls, Armela Segashi and Sabina Sulaj, and their Turkish friends Can Leyla, 14 and Selcuk Kilic, 15, according to reports.

A 17-year-old named in reports as Hussein Daitzik, of Greek origin, is said to have been shot dead as he heroically shielded his sister.

Another youngster, named locally as Guilliano Kollman, 18, reportedly died after being shot outside McDonald’s.

TEENAGER WAS ‘OBSESSED WITH SHOOTING RAMPAGES’

MORE details have been released by police in Munich about the crazed lone gunman behind Friday’s shopping centre rampage, named in reports as 18-year-old Ali Sonboly.

The German-Iranian had previously received psychiatric treatment, including for depression.

A search of his room had unearthed a document about “frenzied attacks” and a book called Rampage in Head: Why Students Kill.

Munich chief of police Hubertus Andrae said he appeared to have been “obsessed with shooting rampages”.

At a news conference, police and prosecutors said he was a student, born and raised in Munich.

Police found no indication that he had links to Islamic State and there appeared to be no links to immigrants or immigration into Germany.

He appears to have acted alone. Sonboly used a semi-automatic 9mm Glock 17 handgun, which had had its serial number illegally removed and an additional 300 rounds of ammunition were found in his rucksack when his body was found.

The gunman appeared to have hacked into a Facebook account to tell people free food was going to be handed out at the McDonald’s where his rampage started.