Germany: Multiple victims of Hamburg shooting, attacker presumed dead

According to German media, at least 7 people were killed and 8 injured in a shooting on Thursday evening in Hamburg at the Jehovah’s Witnesses Center. Police say there are “numerous victims” but not the number. It is possible that the attacker committed suicide.

The shooting took place at approx. 21.15 in a three-story building serving as a meeting place for Jehovah’s Witnesses on Deelboege Street, in the Gross Borstel district.

The attacker is believed to be dead, according to police. It is not known what his motives were. “We have no evidence that he escaped,” police spokesman Holger Vehren said.

“All we know is that many people have died and many are injured who have been taken to hospitals,” he added.

According to his account, upon arriving at the scene, police officers found numerous people with gunshot wounds on the ground floor of the building and then heard the sound of a shot on the upper floor, where they found a mortally wounded person. It is not ruled out that he was the culprit of the shooting.

Witnesses told n-tv that they heard 12 shots. The area around the building, known as the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses, has been blocked off.

The police appealed to the city’s residents to avoid the affected area (Deelboege Street and areas of the Gross Borstel, Alsterdorf and Eppendorf districts) and to use telephones “only in extreme emergency situations so as not to overload the lines”. Numerous policemen, prosecutors and paramedics are working on the spot.

Hamburg Mayor Peter Tschentscher described the crime as “shocking” and expressed his sympathy to the families of the victims. (PAP)

iu/