SHOOTING HAMBURG. Several people died in a shooting at a center of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Hamburg, Germany, on the night of Thursday March 9. The shooter could be among the victims according to the police.
[Mis à jour le 10 mars 2023 à 7h53] “A bloodbath” describes the German newspaper Picture. On the night of Thursday, March 9, a shooting broke out at a center for Jehovah’s Witnesses in Hamburg, Germany. The authorities, present in large numbers on the spot, have still not communicated on the human toll, but the attack would have left at least seven dead and eight injured according to the media. Several seriously injured were taken to hospital.
The massacre took place around 9 p.m., in the GroßBorstel district, according to witnesses and neighbors of the center of Jehovah’s Witnesses, who participated in “a demonstration” in the building. The faithful of this center met every other Thursday to study the Bible according to information available on the church’s website. Police were “called around 9:15 p.m. to report shots fired in the” three-story building. During their intervention, the police heard a new detonation in the upper floors of the building.
The shooter among the dead?
The shooter would have acted alone according to the first hypothesis of the police who still have little information on the assailant. The German police, however, seem to think that the shooter could be one of the people found dead on the spot, perhaps the seventh victim found on the floor of the building. Was the last shot heard fired by the attacker to kill himself? Police are still looking but said “there is no indication of a fugitive assailant”.
An attack ? The motive for the shooting unknown
“There is no reliable information on the motive for the crime” at this stage according to the police, who ask residents and the media “not to share unverified assumptions and/or spread rumours”. The authorities remain cautious about the course of events and the motivations of the shooter but do not rule out any leads, not even that of an attack. Germany is vigilant against a double terrorist threat: jihadism and right-wing extremism. To understand and have a precise idea of the chronology of events, the police have put a space online where witnesses to the scene can share images, videos or tell what they saw.
The mayor of Hamburg reacted on Twitter in the evening. “The Alsterdorf/GroßBorstel reports are shocking. My most sincere condolences to the families of the victims. The emergency services are working hard to find the perpetrators and clarify the context,” said Peter Tschentscher.