HAMBURG: A gunman presumed to be acting alone killed multiple people in a Jehovah’s Witness church in the German city of Hamburg on Thursday, police said, as they investigated the motive for the incident.
The number of fatalities was withheld by the police, although the shooter was assumed to be among the deceased.
The Bild newspaper reported seven fatalities and eight injuries at the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses in the northern German city that is home to the country’s largest port.
“Based on the current state of circumstances, we believe there is only one perpetrator,” police said in a tweet.
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“Police operations in the surrounding region are gradually being halted. The investigation into the crime’s motivations continues.”
Previously, Germany’s DPA news agency, citing a correspondent on the site, said that inhabitants in the northern Alsterdorf sector of the city had received mobile phone alerts of a “life-threatening scenario” and that streets were cordoned off.
Television images depicted scores of police cars and fire engines barricading streets, as well as blanket-wrapped individuals being carried inside a bus by emergency service personnel.
“We heard gunfire,” an unnamed witness said to media. He stated that there were 12 continuous shots. Later we witnessed individuals being hauled away in black sacks.
The police reported receiving a call shortly after 9:00 p.m., and when they arrived at the scene, they discovered a number of severely injured and deceased individuals.
“Then they heard a gunshot from above, so they ran upstairs and discovered a second victim,” a police spokesperson said.
In the past few years, a number of shootings have shook Germany. In February of 2020, a gunman with alleged far-right ties killed nine people, including Turkish migrants, in the western town of Hanau before shooting himself and his mother.
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On the Jewish holy day of Yom Kippur in October 2019, a gunman opened fire outside a synagogue in the eastern city of Halle. Two people were killed.
The mayor of Hamburg expressed outrage over the bloodshed on Thursday.
“I send my sincerest condolences to the victims’ families. The forces are actively pursuing the offenders and investigating the incident’s context “Peter Tschentscher remarked on Twitter.
