German officials said on Friday that a shooter killed six people at a Jehovah's Witness worship hall in Hamburg before turning the pistol on himself. The incident will likely revive calls for stronger gun regulation in the country.
Officials only identified the shooter as Philipp F. The German citizen and former Jehovah's Witness opened fire via a window before entering the hall, where hundreds of people gathered.
Hamburg Church Shooting
Minutes after the shooting began, soon after 9:00 p.m. (2000 GMT), he shot himself on the ground level, according to authorities. In recent years, Germany has had a number of mass shootings and an attempt by a highly armed organization to topple the government, as per Reuters.
As a result of the past massacres, Germany has implemented stronger gun ownership regulations, and the government has announced intentions to tighten controls even further.
A video captured by an eyewitness purports to show a person discharging a firearm through a glass at a Hamburg, Germany Jehovah's Witness center. According to reports, the gunman acted alone on Thursday evening and then committed suicide. His intentions remain unknown. Per BBC, the suspect is a former religious community member who harbored "bad will."
Meanwhile, an unborn child was slain in a terrible shooting in Hamburg yesterday night, when bullets struck its pregnant mother. Andy Grote, a member of the Hamburg Bundesrat, revealed the devastating news at a press conference today: "Among the deceased is a seven-month-old unborn child whose mother was struck in the womb."
No information was available on a suspected motive for Thursday night's attack, which Chancellor Olaf Scholz, a former mayor of Hamburg, called "a horrible act of violence."
Thomas Radszuweit, a Hamburg security officer, stated that the alleged gunman was unknown to authorities and had no prior convictions. Ralf Martin Meyer, the police head of Hamburg, noted that the alleged shooter had a valid firearms license and legitimately owned a semiautomatic handgun.
Police Previously Receive Tip About the Suspect
According to the German publication Spiegel, the suspect was a former member of the congregation that had convened at the center for a Bible study. There is no new information on the identities of the remaining seven fatalities.
Matthias Tresp, Chief of Protective Police, noted that a "large-scale operation" was conducted in response to the attack on the Jehovah's Witnesses' religious structure. Christiane Hoffmann, a spokesman for German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, referred to it as a "shooting rampage" rather than a possible terrorist strike.
Moreover, authorities in Hamburg got a warning about the shooter who went on to kill seven people and an unborn baby in a Jehovah's Witness meeting two months prior. However, he convinced them not to seize his firearm.
The arms control authority received an anonymous letter in January expressing worry about a man identified by German police as Philipp F, 35, stating that he appeared upset with his former fellow church members. Nevertheless, when investigators visited him last month, they found no cause for alarm, Guardian reported.
Related Article: Shooting in Germany Church Leaves Several People Dead
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