A shooter has killed seven people at a Jehovah’s Witnesses Kingdom Hall in Hamburg, Germany on Friday, March 10, according to German police.
The killings in the northern German city occurred
around 9 p.m. local time (3 p.m. ET) with police initially unsure how
many shooters might have been involved but later updates showed it was
just one attacker, who died at the scene.
After being called
to the building, police saw dead and injured people on the bottom floor
where an event was taking place, Hamburg police spokesman Holger Vehren
told NTV.
Officers also heard a shot on the top floor of the building when they first entered it and found a dead person upstairs.
More
footage from the scene showed numerous armed police officers inside and
around the Kingdom Hall while a helicopter flew overhead. A bomb
disposal team was deployed at one point.
The
streets around the place of worship have been cordoned off, and police
earlier warned of “extreme danger” in the area, the spokesperson added
”Eight
people are dead - including the alleged perpetrator,” Hamburg's police
said in a statement. “Other people were injured in the incident, some
seriously.”
The Jehovah’s Witnesses in Germany said in a statement: “The religious community is deeply saddened by the horrific attack on its members at the Kingdom Hall in Hamburg after a religious service.”
“At present, we believe there is one perpetrator,” Hamburg police said in their latest update on their Twitter account, hours after armed officers scoured the scene for evidence and suspects.
“All police
measures in the vicinity are being successively discontinued. The
investigation into the circumstances of the crime continues.”
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz denouncing shooting in a statement.
“Several
members of a Jehovah community fell victim to a brutal act of violence
last night. My thoughts are with them and their loved ones,” he wrote on
Twitter.
EU Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson
wrote on Twitter: “A shocking attack on a church in GrossBorstel,
Hamburg last night. My thoughts are with the victims and their families.
“Thanks to @PolizeiHamburg who responded to the attack immediately and with incredible bravery.”
There is “no confirmed information on the motive for the crime,” police said on Twitter as they urged people not to share any unconfirmed assumptions.
This is not the first shooting spree recorded in Germany in recent times.
In
January 2022, at least one person was killed after a man opened fire on
students in a lecture hall at Heidelberg University in southwestern
Germany.
In 2020, a mass shooting at two shisha bars in Hanau killed several people.
