Hamburg shooting: Multiple deaths in Jehovah’s Witness hall shooting in Germany

Police say the gunman acted alone in Thursday's attack, and later took his own life. His motives are unknown.

Seven people were killed inside a Kingdom Hall of the Jehovah’s Witnesses, including an unborn child, while eight were hurt, including four seriously.

Thomas Radszuweit, a Hamburg security official, said the man was a 35-year-old German national whom he identified only as Philipp F in line with the nation’s privacy rules.

Eight people died in the shooting at a Jehovah’s Witness hall in Germany, including the alleged gunman, police have said.

He said the suspected gunman was not previously known to authorities in Hamburg and there was no previous case against him.

He said it is not yet possible to pinpoint why the man allegedly went on his rampage but there is no indication of a political motive.

The suspected gunman shot himself inside the hall after officers forced their way into the building, police say.

Hamburg police chief Ralf Martin Meyer said the man had a weapons licence and legally owned a semi-automatic pistol.

All those shot dead were German nationals.

Germany Chancellor Olaf Scholz, a former Hamburg mayor, described a “brutal act of violence”.

Officers reached the hall while the attack was ongoing and heard one more shot after they arrived, according to witnesses and authorities. They did not use their own firearms, a police spokesman said.

The head of Germany’s GdP police union in Hamburg, Horst Niens, said he is convinced the swift arrival of a special operations unit “distracted the perpetrator and may have prevented further victims”.

Germany’s gun laws are more restrictive than those in the United States but permissive compared to some European neighbours and shootings are not unheard of.

Last year, an 18-year-old man opened fire in a packed lecture theatre at Heidelberg University, killing one person and hurting three others before killing himself. In January 2020, a man shot dead six people including his parents and wounded two others in southwestern Germany, while a month later, a shooter who posted a racist rant online killed nine people near Frankfurt.

In the most recent shooting involving a site of worship, a far-right extremist tried to force his way into a synagogue in Halle on Yom Kippur, Judaism’s holiest day, in October 2019. After failing to gain entry, he shot two people to death nearby.

The German government announced plans last year to crack down on gun ownership by suspected extremists and to tighten background checks. Currently, anyone wanting to acquire a firearm must show that they are suited to do so, including by proving that they require a gun. Reasons can include being part of a sports shooting club or being a hunter.

On Friday morning, forensic investigators in protective white suits could be seen outside the Jehovah’s Witnesses’ Kingdom Hall, a boxy, three-storey building next to a car repair shop, a few miles from Hamburg city centre. As light snow fell, officers placed yellow cones on the ground and windowsills to mark evidence.

David Semonian, a US-based spokesman for Jehovah’s Witnesses, said in an emailed statement early on Friday that members “worldwide grieve for the victims of this traumatic event”.

“The congregation elders in the local area are providing pastoral care for those affected by the event,” he wrote.

Police spokesman Holger Vehren said police were alerted to the shooting on Thursday night and at the scene quickly.

The officers found people with apparent gunshot wounds on the ground floor and then heard a shot from an upper floor, where they found a fatally wounded person who may have been the shooter, he said.

They did not fire their weapons.

Student Laura Bauch, who lives nearby, said there were around four periods of shooting, German news agency dpa reported.

“There were always several shots in these periods,” she said.

Ms Bauch said she looked out her window and saw a person running upstairs from the hall’s ground floor.

Gregor Miebach, who lives within sight of the building, heard shots and filmed a figure entering the building through a window.

In his footage, shots can then be heard from inside. The figure later apparently emerges from the hall, is seen in the courtyard and then fires more shots through a window before the lights in the room go out.

Mr Miebach told German television news agency NonstopNews that he heard at least 25 shots. After police arrived, one last shot followed, he said.

His mother, Dorte Miebach, said she was shocked by the shooting. “It’s really 50 meters from our house and many people died,” she said.

“This is still incomprehensible. We still haven’t quite come to terms with it.”

Jehovah’s Witnesses are part of an international church founded in the United States in the 19th century. It claims a worldwide membership of about 8.7 million, with about 170,000 in Germany.

Members are known for their evangelistic efforts, which include knocking on doors and distributing literature in public squares. They refuse to bear arms, receive blood transfusions, salute a national flag or participate in secular governments.