1972年9月5日凌晨，8名巴勒斯坦“黑九月”組織的突擊隊員，按照事先安排好的計劃，進入了以色列國代表隊的奧運駐地，在以色列隊員和官員的宿舍里，他們擊斃了一名教練和一名聞聲趕來的運動員，隨后劫持了九名運動員作為人質。

September 5th, 1972. At approximately 4:30 in the morning, eight Palestinians, members of the terrorist organization Black September, scaled a chain link fence surrounding the Olympic Village in Munich, Germany and entered two apartments being used by Israeli athletes during the Olympic Games. Upon entry into the apartments, two Israeli's were killed. Then, the terrorists held nine Israeli athletes hostage.

恐怖分子提出要求馬上釋放關押在以色列的200多名巴勒斯坦囚犯和西德監獄中的囚犯。而以色列方面則堅決拒絕了"黑九月"分子提出釋放囚犯的要求。另一方面，以色列希望西德當局派遣特種部隊營救人質，但西德政府只同意由慕尼黑警察來負責營救人質的行動。

The Black September terrorists demanded the release of more than 200 Palestinians held in jails in Israel. They also demanded the release of two more Palestinians held in prisons in Germany. The Israeli's, no stranger to terrorist threats, rejected all demands by the terrorists. The Israeli's, in turn, offered the German government their special forces unit to assist in the recovery of their athletes. The Germans refused. The Germans would use their own police force which had no hostage rescue experience.

西德警方和埃及奧運代表隊的負責人與恐怖分子進行談判，提出可以支付給他們巨額贖金來釋放人質，卻被恐怖分子拒絕，只要求押帶9名人質飛往開羅。警方于是答應了他們的要求。

The German police chief, Manfried Shreiber and Ahmed Touni, the head of the Egyptian Olympic team, negotiated with the terrorists. The Germans at one point offered the terrorists an unlimited amount of money to release the Israeli's. It is said that the response from the terrorists was that money meant nothing to them, their lives meant nothing to them. The terrorists demanded transport to Cairo. The German's agreed as a ploy to get the terrorists out of the apartments and into open view.

5日晚10點，“黑九月”分子押帶人質乘坐兩架直升機抵達機場，已等候多時的西德警方指揮官下令狙擊手開火。恐怖分子自知上當，用手榴彈炸毀了直升機，機場霎時間亂作一團。隨后雙方展開激戰。最后警察在清點尸體時，有5名歹徒被擊斃，9名以色列人質則全部被恐怖分子殺害。慕尼黑奧運會的血腥一幕喚醒了主辦者的安全保衛意識，使他們看到反對恐怖主義也是舉辦奧運會舉足輕重的一環。

Ten o'clock the evening of the 5th, two helicopters took the terrorists and hostages to Furstenfeldbruck Airbase, where an airplane was waiting. Also waiting was the German police, with five snipers ready to take out the terrorists. Once the terrorists arrived at the airport, German authorities were found that there were eight terrorists. A firefight ensued, with two terrorists being killed and another wounded. As the early morning waned, one terrorist jumped out of the helicopter and threw a grenade back inside, blowing up the helicopter with four hostages inside. While the first helicopter burned, the remaining terrorists opened fire on the hostages in the second helicopter. In all, five terrorists were killed and three were captured. Nine Israeli athletes all were dead. One German policeman was killed. The bloody scene of Munich Olympics awakened organizers' security awareness, so that they realized that against terrorism is also a vital part of hosting the Olympic Games.