On March 9, there were at least seven people killed – four men and two women, and an unborn baby – and eight injuries, four serious, in a JW Watchtower Bible meeting hall in Hamburg, Germany. At about nine o’clock in the evening, Hamburg police received a complaint of gunfire inside the hall.
The deceased were all German citizens. The wounded included a Ugandan and a Ukrainian resident. The seven-month-pregnant woman survived, but her unborn baby was killed by the gunfire.
Police officials said the shooter was among the dead discovered at the scene.
The suspect, identified as Philipp F, was said to have been a previous member of the Watchtower Bible community and was harboring “ill feelings” towards the religious group.
Police issued a shelter-in-place order to the neighborhood’s residents as they conducted their investigation. Authorities stated on March 10 that investigators believe the attacker was a lone gunman.
Nearby neighbors informed local media that they heard a barrage of bullets and observed someone going from floor to floor in the three-floor building while the shooting occurred.
According to local resident and student Laura Bauch, there were around four firing episodes. Bauch glanced out her window and saw someone rushing from the first floor to the second floor of the hall.
The sound of bullets startled Gregor Miesbach, who lives nearby, who saw a stranger entering via a window. Shots could then be heard coming from inside. He added that the person appeared in the courtyard and fired additional bullets inside before leaving the building. Miesbach reported to the German television news source NonstopNews that he heard at least 25 gunshots. Around five minutes after the cops came, the witness claimed there was one final gunfire.
The tragedy on Thursday shocked Hamburg’s Mayor Peter Tschentscher. He said the authorities are moving quickly to shed light on the incident.
