Germany’s second largest city, Hamburg, continues to be shaken by the event of the previous night, when a man opened fire at a center of Jehovah’s Witnesses, killing 7 people, before killing himself. Authorities said the 35-year-old, a German national and former Jehovah’s Witness, had been using a semi-automatic weapon, which he had owned with a permit since December last year. The motive for the attack remains unclear, but officials said they had ruled out political motives.
Residents of Hamburg remembered on Friday in shock what happened the night before, when a gunman, identified as Philipp F., 35 years old, killed 7 people and wounded 8 others, some of them in serious condition.
“At first I thought, who is working with the auger at this hour?! This is what came to mind, as it is not common to hear gunshots and it is difficult to distinguish them. But then we heard the sirens going off,” says Kerstin Spiekermann, who lives near the place where the incident happened.
Among the victims was a baby, still in the mother’s womb. Hamburg police said the mother managed to survive.
“It’s terrible, those people died 50 meters from our house. I still can’t believe it,” says Dorte Miebach, the mother of an eyewitness, who filmed the event with his phone.
The attack took place at a center of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Hamburg. At the time of the attack, there were about 50 people in the hall. Authorities said they are still investigating possible motives for the incident, but added that they have ruled out political motives.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who previously served as mayor of Hamburg, described the incident as a brutal act of violence.
According to reports, the police arrived at the scene while the attack was still ongoing. Only one shot was heard when they arrived, but officials said the security personnel never fired.
The head of the Hamburg Police Union, Horst Niens, said he was convinced that the quick arrival of a special operations unit “prevented further casualties”. Germany’s gun laws are more restrictive than American laws, but more tolerant compared to some neighboring European countries, so cases of gun attacks in this country are not unheard of.
Last year, the German government announced plans to take guns out of the hands of those suspected of being extremists, as well as to more rigorously check the background of those who want to buy firearms. Currently, anyone who wants to get a gun must show that they are eligible for such a thing, also providing the reasons why they want it. Reasons include being part of a shooting sports club, or hunting.
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