Several people were killed and a few injured when shots were fired in a Hamburg church on Thursday evening. The shots were fired at a Jehovah’s Witnesses event, a police spokesman said. According to the police, there is no indication of a fugitive perpetrator. Holger Vehren, spokesman for the Hamburg police, said it was assumed that the perpetrator was among the victims.
The television station RTL and the Hamburg “Morgenpost” reported at least six deaths, the “Bild” newspaper of seven.
The police spoke of a large situation. The background is still unclear. According to information from security circles, the police are assuming an amok attack, as reported by the dpa news agency.
The Home Office issued a warning. She called for the affected area of Deelböge and the surrounding area in the Groß Borstel district to be avoided and not to go outside there for the time being. “Avoid the affected area as far as possible. Take shelter in a building immediately. Temporarily take in people who are at risk.” The streets at the site of the damage were extensively cordoned off.
The crime scene is in a Jehovah’s Witnesses building. The house in which the “King’s Hall” of Jehovah’s Witnesses is located in the Groß Borstel district – a more middle-class area of the Hanseatic city not far from the Alster – is a clinker brick building on the busy Deelböge main street. In total, the Jehovah’s Witnesses operate three “King’s Halls” in the city area.
Police officers happened to be near the crime scene because they were on their way back to their accommodation at the police headquarters in Alsterdorf, as WELT learned. When the police officers got to the building, shots could still be heard. The victims were spread out on the first floor. Then a single shot was fired on an upper floor, and a body was also found here. The officers carried the injured out of the building, including a pregnant woman, according to eyewitnesses.
Hamburg’s Mayor Peter Tschentscher (SPD) was informed at his vacation spot. Tschentscher reported shortly after 11 p.m. via Twitter: “The reports from Alsterdorf / Groß Borstel are shocking. My deepest condolences to the families of the victims. The emergency services are working flat out to track down the perpetrators and clarify the background.”
