Mass shooting at Jehovah's Witness hall in Hamburg leaves 8 dead, including gunman
Armed police officers near the scene of a shooting in Hamburg, Germany on Mar 9, 2023 after one or more people opened fire in a church. (Photo: Jonas Walzberg/dpa via AP)
HAMBURG: The gunman who shot dead seven people at a Jehovah's Witnesses centre in the German city of Hamburg killed himself after police stormed the building, a local official said on Friday (Mar 10), adding that a pregnant woman was among the victims.
The attacker fled to the first floor of the building after police burst in and "killed himself", said regional interior minister Andy Grote, adding that the rapid police deployment likely "saved many lives".
Several people were killed or wounded after shots were fired inside the building on Thursday evening.
“We only know that several people died here; several people are wounded, they were taken to hospitals,” police spokesman Holger Vehren said, adding that he had no information on the severity of the injuries suffered by the wounded.
German media outlet Bild reported that seven people were dead and eight others were injured in the shooting.
The shooting took place in the Gross Borstel district, a few kilometres north of the downtown area of Germany's second-biggest city.
German news agency dpa reported that local residents in the northern Alsterdorf district of Hamburg received warnings on their mobile phones of a "life-threatening situation" and that streets were sealed off.
Television footage also showed dozens of police cars as well as fire engines blocking off streets as sirens blared.
"We're all up and running, there is even a helicopter deployed," said a police spokesperson.
Vehren said police were alerted to the shooting at about 9.15pm and were at the scene quickly.
He said that after officers arrived and found people with apparent gunshot wounds on the ground floor, they heard a shot from an upper floor and found a fatally wounded person upstairs who may have been a shooter. He added that police did not have to use their firearms.
"We heard shots," one unnamed witness told reporters. "There were 12 continuous shots... then we saw how people were taken away in black bags."
Student Laura Bauch, who lives nearby, said there were "about four periods of shooting”, German news agency dpa reported.
“There were ... several shots in these periods, roughly at intervals of 20 seconds to a minute," she said.
Local police said on Friday that the gunman was an ex-member of Jehovah's Witnesses.
"Philipp F. was a former member" of the Jehovah's Witnesses, a senior police official told a press conference, adding that the attacker left the community about 18 months ago "but apparently not on good terms".
There was "no indication of a terrorist background" to the attack, a spokesman for the Hamburg prosecution's office said.
Hamburg Mayor Peter Tschentscher tweeted: "I extend my deepest sympathy to the families of the victims. The forces are working at full speed to pursue the perpetrators and clarify the background."
