Seven dead after shooting inside Hamburg church

City in shock following attack at building used by Jehovah’s Witnesses

AT LEAST seven people are dead and 25 injured after a shooting at a church in the northern German city of Hamburg, local media has reported, citing the fire service.

The Hamburg city government said the shooting took place in the Gross Borstel district, a few kilometres north of the downtown area of Germany’s second-biggest city.

Police also said on Twitter that a large operation was under way in the next-door Alsterdorf district.

Focus online reported that emergency services were at the scene. They also said that the people behind the attack are on the run, though this is disputed by police.

The shooting took place at around 9pm, police said, adding that there were “one or more unknown” assailants.

“According to first indications, shots were fired in a church in Deelboege street in the Gross Borstel district. Several people were seriously injured, some even fatally,” police said on Twitter.

They alerted people to an “extreme danger” in the area using a catastrophe warning app, Ninawarn.

Police warned residents to stay indoors and avoid the area, adding that roads surrounding the church had been cordoned off.

Shots were fired inside a building used by Jehovah’s Witnesses, police said.

They were alerted to the shooting about 9.15pm and were soon on the scene. After officers arrived, they heard a shot from an upper floor.

The police statement said that there was no immediate indication that a shooter was on the run and that it appeared likely that the perpetrator or perpetrators were either in the building or among the dead.

Police had no information on the event that was under way in the building when the shooting took place. They also had no immediate information on a possible motive and appealed to the public not to spread rumours or speculation.

The mayor of Hamburg, a port city, expressed his shock at the attack on Twitter.

“I extend my deepest sympathy to the families of the victims. The forces are working at full speed to pursue the perpetrators and clarify the background,” tweeted Peter Tschentscher.

Local media footage showed a big police presence outside the Jehovah’s Witnesses’ Kingdom Hall, a modern three-story building.

There have been several recent attacks in Germany by both far-right extremists and jihadists. In December 2016, 12 people were killed in an attack when a truck was driven deliberately into a Berlin Christmas market.

The attacker, a failed asylum seeker from Tunisia, was a supporter of the Islamic State terrorist group.

Germany remains a target for Islamist groups because of its contribution to the anti-islamic State coalition in Syria and Iraq. Between 2013 and 2021, the number of Islamists considered dangerous to Germany reached 615.

In February 2020, a farright terrorist shot 10 people dead and wounded five others in the central German city of Hanau.

In 2019, two people were killed after a neo-nazi attacked a synagogue in Halle on the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur.

‘German forces are working at full speed to pursue the perpetrators’