Seven dead in shooting at a Jehovah’s Witnesses center in Germany
In a mass shooting on Thursday at a Jehovah’s Witness Kingdom Hall in Hamburg, Germany, seven people were slain. The nation’s leader referred to the incident as a “brutal act of violence.”
According to the city’s police, eight persons, including the accused offender, have died. Several others were hurt in the event, some gravely.
The religious community is profoundly pained by the awful attack on its members at the Kingdom Hall in Hamburg during a religious service, the Jehovah’s Witnesses in Germany stated in a statement.
When the killings in the northern German city began at 9 p.m. local time (3 p.m. ET), authorities were originally unaware of the potential number of gunmen.
Later police reports, however, indicated that there was just one assailant, who is thought to have passed away at the site.
“At now, we believe there is one offender,” Hamburg police wrote in their latest post on their Twitter account, hours after armed cops investigated the site for evidence and suspects.
“All police interventions in the area are gradually ceasing. The circumstances surrounding the incident are still being looked thoroughly.
Politicians were led in their condemnation of the killing spree in the city of northern Germany by Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
“Last night, several members of a Jehovah’s Witness community were the victims of a vicious crime. He posted on Twitter, “My thoughts are with them and their loved ones.
Earlier, a police official stated that investigators were looking into whether the shooter was one of the several victims discovered at the site.
According to Hamburg police spokesperson Holger Vehren, when officers arrived at the scene of the call, they discovered dead and injured persons on the ground level where an event was happening.
When the police entered the building, they also heard a shot on the top level, where they discovered a body.
Authorities suspect it could have been the shooter, but a spokeswoman stated no further information could be released at this time.
Many armed police officers could be seen inside and around the Kingdom Hall in footage from the area as a helicopter buzzed overhead. At one time, a bomb-disposal squad was sent out.
Police had previously issued a warning of “high risk” in the region, and the neighborhood’s streets had been blocked off, the spokeswoman continued.
Residents in the area have been asked to stay inside.
There is “no verifiable information on the motive for the crime,” police stated on Twitter as they begged people not to post any unsubstantiated conclusions.
Peter Tschentscher, the mayor of Hamburg, tweeted that the news of the tragedy were “terrible” and offered his “deepest sympathies” to the victims’ families.
