Seven people were killed and several were seriously injured in the massacre that took place on Thursday evening at the community center of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Hamburg. Meanwhile, it is known who the attacker was, and there are some clues as to the motives. Hamburg’s interior minister made the first statements about the horrific act on Friday.

The murders took place on Thursday evening in Hamburg’s Alsterdorf district during or immediately after a meeting of Jehovah’s Witnesses. The event began around seven in the evening, in the so-called Kingdom Hall. The NDR TV channel reported that the criminal broke a window in the back of the building and thus entered the house, and then shot the people present.

How it all happened

Around 9:00 p.m. on Thursday evening, 35-year-old German Philip F. walked up to the community center of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Hamburg, pulled out a gun, went to one of the windows on the first floor and opened fire. During the massacre, seven people died (four men, two women, an unborn child), several more were injured, some seriously.

A few minutes after the first shots were fired, the police received the first calls from neighbors who reported “repeated volleys”. At 9:08 p.m., the first emergency services arrived at the scene. In total, almost 1,000 police officers took part in the operation.

At the time of access to the building at 21:11, rescuers had already received 47 calls. The law enforcement officers saw F., who immediately ran to the first floor, where he shot himself. The murder weapon was a Heckler & Koch P30L pistol, the motive is still unknown, although there are some clues.

Amok

Hamburg Interior Senator Andy Grote called the attack “unstoppable.” According to the police, the attacker fired nine shots, which corresponds to more than 130 shots. He would have another 22 magazines of ammunition.

According to the police, seven people died as a result of the attack. It includes four men and two women aged 33 to 60, as well as an unborn child whose mother died in the shooting. When the police arrived, the attacker ran to the first floor of the building and shot himself there. There were eight deaths in total.

In addition, six women and two men between the ages of 23 and 46 were injured, the interior minister said at a press conference. At least four victims received non-life-threatening injuries. 20 people managed to get out of the building safely without injury. According to Grote, it was probably “thanks to the very, very quick and decisive intervention of the police” that there were no more victims.

Former member of Jehovah’s Witnesses

Hamburg’s interior affairs senator reported that the criminal is a 35-year-old unmarried German who lived and worked in Hamburg since 2014. As “Spiegel” reported, a man from the city of Kempten (Allgäu) allegedly grew up in a strictly religious family. .

F. was engaged in banking practice, and then studied business administration. On the Internet, he presented himself as a consultant in various fields from “control” to “theology”.

Senator Grote also stated that the criminal was a member of Jehovah’s Witnesses who left the congregation a year and a half ago “voluntarily, but not forever.”

The man had no prior convictions, so he was not registered with the police. He had a firearms license and had legally owned a Heckler & Koch semi-automatic pistol since December.

The reason is unclear, hundreds of rounds

According to the head of state security in Hamburg, Thomas Radshuweit, the possible motives for the murder are unknown. So far, it is not claimed that the crime was politically motivated.

Hamburg Police Chief Martin Meyer announced that Hamburg’s weapons department conducted an unannounced check on the killer in early February following an anonymous tip received by the agency in January 2023. It indicated a mental illness from which the criminal might suffer. However, the alleged disease has never been medically confirmed.

The written report also said the perpetrator was “particularly angry” at religious followers, including Jehovah’s Witnesses and his former employer. However, he was cooperative during the search and properly stored his weapon in a safe during the search.

As the head of the Hamburg prosecutor’s office Ralf Peter Anders reported, the criminal’s apartment has already been searched. 15 magazines with 15 rounds each and another 200 rounds were found.

Law enforcement officers focus on finding and interviewing possible witnesses who can provide information about the crime. For this purpose, an Internet portal has been created through which information can be transmitted.