© Reuters. Police secure the area following a deadly shooting in Hamburg, Germany, on March 9, 2023 in this still image taken from video. UNCONTINUOUS NEWS via Reuters TV/Handout via REUTERS
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By Riham Alkousaa and Jan Schwartz
HAMBURG (Reuters) – A gunman in Germany shot six people dead before taking his own life at a Jehovah’s Witness hall of worship in Hamburg, authorities said on Friday, in an attack that is sure to renew calls for gun controls more strict.
Eight other people were injured, including a seven-month pregnant woman who lost her unborn daughter, police and prosecutors said at a news conference.
Authorities said they had been briefed on the perpetrator, but had not taken his legally owned gun from him before the shooting at an event Thursday night.
The killer’s motive is unknown, but a political reason has been ruled out, authorities said.
Authorities identified the shooter only as Philipp F. The 35-year-old German citizen and former Jehovah’s Witness began shooting through a window in the lounge, where dozens of people were gathered, before entering.
He committed suicide on the first floor when police arrived minutes after the shooting began shortly after 9:00 p.m. (2000 GMT), police said.
Germany has suffered a series of mass shootings in recent years, as well as a plot by a heavily armed group to overthrow the government. Following earlier shootings, Germany introduced stricter rules on gun ownership and the government has announced plans to further tighten controls.
The Hamburg shooter was known to police, who had visited his apartment before the attack in response to an anonymous tip raising concerns about his mental state. But they did not have sufficient grounds to take the weapon, a legally-possessed semi-automatic pistol made by the German company Heckler & Koch, authorities said.
After the shooting, police returned to his apartment and found 15 magazines loaded with ammunition, they said.
The victims included four men and two women, and the unborn girl. Among the injured were a Ugandan and a Ukrainian citizen, and four people sustained serious injuries.
Jehovah’s Witnesses are an international Christian denomination that was founded in the United States around 1870. They are best known in many countries for their door-to-door evangelism.
Jehovah’s Witnesses said in a statement that the religious community was “deeply affected by the horrific attack on its members of the faith at a Kingdom Hall in Hamburg after a service.”
Officials said about 50 people were at an event held at the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses in the city’s Alsterdorf district when the shooting began.
Police responded forcefully, with more than 950 officers deployed, partly because dark and grainy footage of the attack taken by a member of the public had made it appear there might be a second attacker. It later emerged that the man acted alone.
The building in a residential area has been used by the group as a place of worship for several years, resident Annelore Peemueller told Reuters.
Phone footage from another resident showed a person outside the building shooting through a window.
“I heard loud gunshots,” said the person, who declined to give his name. “I saw a man shooting at a window with a firearm.”
SHOOTING HISTORY
On Friday, people laid flowers outside the hall in remembrance. Forensic workers loaded several bodies, one in a coffin, the others in bags, into a black van.
“There were 12 continuous shots,” another unidentified witness told reporters. “Then we saw people being taken away in black bags.”
Germany has been rocked by a series of shootings in recent years. In February 2020, a gunman with suspected ties to the far-right fatally shot nine people, including migrants from Turkey, in the western city of Hanau before killing himself and his mother.
In October 2019, a gunman killed two people when he opened fire outside a synagogue in the eastern city of Halle on the Jewish holy day of Yom Kippur.
According to the federal administration office, there are more than 940,000 registered private gun owners in Germany.
The strong German tradition of hunting and gun sports is a big part of gun culture in the country. The DSB shooters’ association has around 1.35 million shooters among its members in 14,200 clubs across the country.
The mayor of Hamburg expressed shock.
“I extend my deepest condolences to the families of the victims. The forces are working at full speed to prosecute the perpetrators and clarify the background,” Peter Tschentscher said on Twitter.