Shooting at Jehovah's Witness hall in Germany leaves 8 dead

Eight people, including the alleged shooter, were killed in a shooting at a Jehovah's Witness center in Hamburg, Germany, police said on Friday. The reason behind the attack is still unknown.

In the incident on Thursday night at the Kingdom Hall building in the port city of Hamburg, Jehovah's Witnesses were gathered for a religious service, and several more people were hurt.

“Eight people were fatally injured, apparently including the suspected perpetrator,” Hamburg police said in a statement, adding that several other people were hurt, “some seriously”.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz condemned the “brutal act of violence” and said his thoughts were with the victims and their loved ones.

The Jehovah’s Witnesses in Germany association said it was “deeply saddened by the horrific attack on its members”.

At about 2015 GMT, bullets were fired at a building in the city's Gross Borstel neighborhood, prompting the first emergency calls.

Around noon, Hamburg police are scheduled to provide an update at a press conference; earlier, they stated that they were still investigating the attack's motivation.

“At the moment there is no reliable information on the motive of the crime,” police said, urging people not to speculate.

A catastrophe warning app was used to sound an alarm for "extreme danger" in the area, but shortly after 3 a.m. local time, Germany's Federal Office for Civil Protection lifted it.

Peter Tschentscher, the mayor of the port city, tweeted his dismay at the shooting.

Witnesses have been urged by the police to come forward and post any photos or videos they may have on a specific website.

Nancy Faeser, the interior minister, stated that investigators were "working flat-out to establish the background" of the incident.

According to the news magazine Der Spiegel, the alleged attacker was a former Jehovah's Witness who was not a recognized radical.

He was characterized as a man in his 30s to 40s by the magazine, which did not reference its sources, and it was said that he was carrying a weapon.

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