CNN
—
German police had been on Friday investigating the doable motive after a shooter killed seven individuals at a Jehovah’s Witnesses Kingdom Corridor in Hamburg.
”Eight persons are lifeless – together with the alleged perpetrator,” the town’s police stated of their newest assertion. “Different individuals had been injured within the incident, some critically.”
The Jehovah’s Witnesses in Germany stated in an announcement: “The non secular neighborhood is deeply saddened by the horrific assault on its members on the Kingdom Corridor in Hamburg after a spiritual service.”
The slayings within the northern German metropolis occurred round 9 p.m. native time (3 p.m. ET) with police initially not sure what number of shooters may be concerned.
However later updates from the town’s police pressure recommended there was only one attacker, who’s believed to have died on the scene.
“At current, we imagine there’s one perpetrator,” Hamburg police stated of their newest replace on their Twitter account, hours after armed officers scoured the scene for proof and suspects.
“All police measures within the neighborhood are being successively discontinued. The investigation into the circumstances of the crime continues.”
Chancellor Olaf Scholz led politicians in denouncing the homicide spree within the northern German metropolis.
“A number of members of a Jehovah neighborhood fell sufferer to a brutal act of violence final night time. My ideas are with them and their family members,” he wrote on Twitter.
EU Commissioner for House Affairs Ylva Johansson expressed her sorrow over the lethal taking pictures, writing on Twitter: “A surprising assault on a church in GrossBorstel, Hamburg final night time. My ideas are with the victims and their households.
“Due to @PolizeiHamburg who responded to the assault instantly and with unbelievable bravery.”
A police spokesperson earlier stated that authorities had been investigating whether or not the shooter was among the many a number of individuals discovered lifeless on the scene.
After being referred to as to the constructing, police noticed lifeless and injured individuals on the underside flooring the place an occasion was happening, Hamburg police spokesman Holger Vehren instructed NTV.
Officers additionally heard a shot on the highest flooring of the constructing once they first entered it and located a lifeless particular person upstairs.
Police imagine it might have been the shooter however stated no additional info may very well be given at this level, a spokesperson stated.
Footage from the scene confirmed quite a few armed law enforcement officials inside and across the Kingdom Corridor whereas a helicopter flew overhead. A bomb disposal crew was deployed at one level.
The streets across the place of worship have been cordoned off, and police earlier warned of “excessive hazard” within the space, the spokesperson added.
Close by residents have been urged to remain indoors.
There’s “no confirmed info on the motive for the crime,” police stated on Twitter as they urged individuals to not share any unconfirmed assumptions.
Hamburg Mayor Peter Tschentscher expressed his “deepest sympathy” for the kin of the victims, calling the experiences of the incident “surprising” on Twitter.
Messages of help got here in from Hamburg’s non secular communities.
“The information of this bloody crime in Hamburg-Alsterdorf is surprising and leaves me speechless… My deepest sympathy goes to the kin of the victims,” Father Sascha-Philipp Geissler, a senior member of Hamburg’s Catholic diocese, stated in an announcement.
Shootings in Germany usually are not exceptional, although rarer than in america
In January 2022, a minimum of one particular person was killed after a person opened hearth on college students in a lecture corridor at Heidelberg College in southwestern Germany.
In 2020, a mass taking pictures at two shisha bars in Hanau killed a number of individuals.
#Shooter #kills #Jehovahs #Witnesses #heart #Germany #CNN
