A German gunman killed 8 civilians and left some critical injured in a Jehovah’s witness center at Hamburg Germany.
The shooting took place inside the Kingdom Hall of the Jehovah’s Witnesses, a boxy, three-story structure next to an auto repair shop in the Gross Borstel neighborhood, a few miles outside of Hamburg’s central business district. According to reports, the event took place at a Jehovah’s Witness center on Thursday night at around 9 p.m. local time (20:00 GMT).
In the period following the shooting, police stated that they believed there to be only one shooter, who may have been a person who was discovered dead within the structure. To collect evidence, investigators worked all night. On Friday morning, forensic investigators were still visible outside the structure as a little snowfall occurred. They were dressed in protective white coats. To designate evidence, police officers put yellow cones on the floor and windowsills.
Officials from Hamburg announced a news conference for Friday afternoon to go through specifics. As per police spokesman Holger Vehren, officers were swiftly dispatched to the area after being informed of the incident about 9:15 p.m. He stated that after authorities came and saw people on the main floor with what seemed to be gunshot wounds, they heard a shot from an upper floor, and upstairs, they located a mortally wounded guy who may have been the shooter.
Laura Bauch, a nearby student, stated there were four intervals of shooting. She said, “There were constantly repeated shots in these periods, roughly every 20 to a minute.” She said that as she peered out of her window, she noticed a person rushing up the Jehovah’s Witnesses Hall from the first floor to the second.
Gregor Miesbach, who lives nearby, was startled by the sound of bullets and captured footage of a man entering the building through a window. Gunshots can then be heard coming from within. Afterwards, the figure appears to exit from the hall, appears in the courtyard, and then fires additional rounds inside. His footage shows someone shooting several shots into the building through a first-floor window before the lights went out. Miesbach claimed to have heard at least 25 gunshots. He added that once the police came, one last shot was fired about five minutes later.
The Jehovah’s Witnesses belong to a multinational church that was established in the United States in the 19th century and has its main office in Warwick, New York. With roughly 170,000 members in Germany, it claims to have 8.7 million members globally.
Members “globally weep for the victims of this tragic tragedy,” said David Semonian, a Jehovah’s Witness spokesman located in the United States, in an early Friday email response. The elders of the neighboring congregation are providing pastoral care for anyone affected by the incident, he continued. As far as we know, the police are currently looking into the specifics of this incident. We are grateful for the brave assistance provided by the police and emergency personnel.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz expressed solidarity with the victims of the Hamburg shooting. The victims of a horrible act of violence last night included numerous members of a Jehovah’s Witness group, Scholz wrote.
The police have urged anyone who may have witnessed the attack in Hamburg to come forward and post any photos or videos they may possess on a specific website.
