Several killed in shooting at Jehovah’s Witnesses center in Hamburg – Released

The exact number or circumstances of the crime are not yet known precisely. German police are investigating Friday morning a shooting that killed and seriously injured several people at a center of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Hamburg (North) on Thursday evening. Many media including dailies Picture Who mentioned a “Bloodbath”, He said that 7 people would have died and 8 people would have been seriously injured in this firing. But the Hamburg police did not provide any figures. “Police operations in the vicinity have been continuously suspended. Investigations into the background of the law are ongoing,” he said. She only tweeted on Friday.

After asking for a shot “upper part” From the building where the murder took place, the police recovered the body.lifeless man Police spokesperson said “maybe” Or one of the shooters. “We have no sign (report) of (any) assailant running away,” He noted. “At this point, it is believed that there was only one shooter,” The police said Twitter.

The federal office for civil protection was lifted overnight, after 3 a.m. local time, with an official warning preventing residents from leaving their homes in the event of an attack.

The daily said Jehovah’s Witnesses attended a weekly Bible study from 7 p.m. Abendblatt Burger. Police They were called around 9:15pm to reports of shots fired in the building The three sites are located in the Gross Borstel district, north of Germany’s second-largest city, a police spokesman told NTV channel.

There are intervening forces “He quickly entered the building where he found dead and seriously injured people,” According to this speaker. Officers inside also heard gunshots “Coming from the top of the building” And found another person, the speaker continued, pointing out “Can’t give any indication yet” on mobile.

Founded in the United States in the 19th century, Jehovah’s Witnesses consider themselves the successors of early Christianity and continue to refer only to the Bible. The organization’s status varies from country to country: according to the Witnesses site, they are considered similar to the “major” religions in Austria and Germany, with about 175,000 members, including 3,800 in Hamburg. In France, many of their local branches have the status of a “cult society”, and this strict movement is constantly accused of sectarian variations.

A double threat

If the motive for the shooting is unknown at this point, German authorities have been on alert in recent years to counter the twin threats of terrorism, jihadism and right-wing extremism.

Germany has been plagued by jihadist attacks, most notably the December 2016 Ram truck attack in Berlin by the Islamic State group that killed 12 people. The jihadist attack was the worst ever on German soil. Between 2013 and the end of 2021, the number of Muslims considered dangerous in Germany has increased fivefold and now stands at 615, according to the interior ministry. The number of Salafists is estimated at around 11,000, more than double the number in 2013.

After several deadly attacks targeting community or religious sites in recent years, another threat looms over Germany. In the Hanau racist attack near Frankfurt (West) in February 2020, a German involved in a coup movement killed nine young men of foreign origin. In 2019, a terrorist attempted assassination at a synagogue in Halle on the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur. He was unable to enter the shrine, but killed two passers-by before being arrested.

Update: Friday, March 10 at 7:20 a.m., with more details on facts and context.