A placard reading “JW.org” is pictured outside a Jehovah’s Witnesses church where several people were killed in a shooting in Hamburg, northern Germany, on March 9, 2023. The gunman is believed to be among the dead found in the building, police said (photo by Daniel Reinhardt/AFP).
The attacker shot dead seven people at the Jehovah’s Witnesses centre before killing himself after police stormed the building, a local official said on Friday. Regional interior minister Andy Grote said the gunman fled to the first floor, “and killed himself,” adding that the rapid police deployment likely “saved many lives.” Among the victims was a woman who was seven months pregnant.
In total, eight people were killed—including the gunman—and eight others were seriously injured. The first emergency calls were made around 20:15 GMT after shots rang out at the centre in the city’s northern district of Groß Borstel, a police spokesman said. Police tweeted that “several people were seriously injured, some even fatally.” At the time, there was no reliable information on the motive, and authorities urged the public not to speculate. Subsequent investigations have found “no indication of a terrorist motive” in the Hamburg shooting (AFP).
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