Among the Jehovah’s Witnesses – rampage in Hamburg with eight dead – that’s known – News

    What happened? Shots were fired in a building belonging to Jehovah’s Witnesses in Hamburg’s Gross Borstel district around 9 p.m. on Thursday. Several people were killed or injured. The gunman had fired more than 100 times. The first emergency calls were received at 21:04, before the first forces arrived on site at 21:08. An event by Jehovah’s Witnesses is said to have taken place in the event hall of the religious community at the time of the crime.

    How many people were killed? According to the Hamburg police, eight people died. In addition to the perpetrator, the fatalities are four men, two women and a fetus, a woman six months pregnant who survived. The men and women are between 33 and 60 years old, said the head of state security for the police, Thomas Radszuweit. “All of the fatalities are German nationals and died from gunshots.”

Legend:

Emergency services worked at the scene of the crime throughout the night.

Keystone/JONAS WALZBERG

What do you know about the injured? Six women and two men between the ages of 23 and 46 were injured in the attack, at least four of them life-threateningly, “some with multiple gunshot wounds,” Radszuweit said. Six of the injured are German nationals, one woman each is a Ugandan and a Ukrainian national. Hamburg’s Senator for the Interior, Andy Grote, said at a media conference on Friday afternoon: “It is very likely that we owe it to the very, very quick and decisive intervention of the police forces that there are no more victims here.”

Police barrier tape, police vehicles and emergency services stand in front of a building with the inscription

Legend:

The police in front of the crime scene on Friday morning.

KEYSTONE/DPA/Christian Charisius

What do you know about the perpetrators? The suspected gunman is a 35-year-old German. He was a former member of the Hamburg community of Jehovah’s Witnesses and left it voluntarily a year and a half ago. Hamburg’s police chief announced that the man was a marksman and had legally owned a semi-automatic pistol since December 2022. This is the murder weapon. The suspected shooter was therefore not known to be an extremist.

The Weapons Authority has been warned


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On Friday afternoon it became known that the weapons authority received an anonymous tip about a possible mental illness of the perpetrator in January. This was announced by the Hamburg police chief Ralf Martin Meyer. The aim of the unknown writer was to have the behavior and the gun regulations checked in relation to the man. The unknown person also wrote that the mental illness may not have been medically diagnosed. According to the letter, the man was particularly angry with religious followers, especially Jehovah’s Witnesses and his former employer.

The officials of the weapons authority would have researched further after the tip. At the beginning of February, the man was visited unannounced by two officials from the weapons authority. This was a standard check that took place after an anonymous tip, explains Meyer. The suspect was cooperative. There were no relevant complaints. The legal possibilities had been exhausted.

What are the reactions? «Bad news from #Hamburg. Several members of a Jehovah’s Church fell victim to a brutal act of violence last night,” posted the German Chancellor Olaf Scholz via the government account on Twitter. “My thoughts are with them and their families. And with the security forces, who have had a difficult mission. »

The Jehovah’s Witnesses themselves were “deeply affected”. “Our deepest sympathy goes to the families of the victims and the traumatized eyewitnesses. The local church ministers are doing their best to assist them at this difficult time,” a statement on the community’s website said.

Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser was “shocked”. And Hamburg too Mayor Peter Tschentscher expressed dismay. “My deepest condolences to the victims’ families,” he wrote on Twitter. EU Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson spoke on Twitter of a “shocking act”. Her thoughts are with the victims and their families. At the same time, the Swede thanked the Hamburg police, who reacted “immediately with incredible courage”.

Who are the Jehovah’s Witnesses?


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The Jehovah’s Witnesses are a Christian community with their own interpretation of the Bible. The followers believe in Jehovah as “almighty God and Creator” and are supposed to submit to strict regulations. They are convinced that a new world is at hand and that they will be saved as a chosen church. Jehovah’s Witnesses have around eight million members worldwide. The “world headquarters” is in New York. The German community with less than 200,000 members is one of the largest in Europe.

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