At least six people have been killed and others injured in
a shooting at a Jehovah's Witnesses church in Hamburg, Germany. The incident
was reported at around 1:45 am on March 10 (India time) after nearby residents
heard gunshots. Hamburg police spokesman Holger Vehren said there was no
indication that the suspects were still under investigation.
Vehren suggested the assailant was still at the scene,
possibly among the dead. A dead person has been found at a Jehovah's Witnesses
event, and Hamburg police have suggested that this person "may have been
the perpetrator".
Germany experienced only five bombings between 1998 and
2019, compared to 101 recorded in the United States.
German newspaper Bild Zeitung reported that seven people
died, while at least eight were injured. The police were nearby as they
returned home to the Alsterdorf police headquarters.
The users are listed by the special unit USE, which was
created in 2020 to deal with such situations. A witness, Lara Bauch, reported
hearing several gunshots, lasting about 20 seconds a minute. According to the
newspaper The Guardian, ḍBauch saw a person run from the ground floor to the
first floor of the house of Jehovah's Witnesses.
Hamburg Interior Minister Andy Grote said on Twitter that a
significant number of special police officers had been deployed to the scene.
Jehovah's Witnesses are a Christian religious organization founded by Charles
Taze Russell in the late 19th century in the United States. The group's
headquarters are in New York. Police urged people not to speculate or spread
rumors about what happened.
Police said they are unsure of the cause and possible
motive for the shooting. The spokesman said there was no indication that the attacker
had fled the scene, but there were indications that the attacker may have been
in the building and may have been among the dead.
“We found a lifeless person in a community center in #GroßBorstel who we believe could be a perpetrator. In order to rule out the involvement of other perpetrators, we carry out checks and search extensively," the police tweeted.