We’re ending our live coverage of the attack. You can read our full report of what happened tonight in Hamburg below:
Summary
Here is what we know about tonight’s shooting in Hamburg, Germany:
Shortly after 9pm police were alerted to a shooting inside a Jehovah’s Witness centre in the northern German city of Hamburg. Seven people were killed and 25 injured, some seriously, police said.
Police said the gunman was believed to be among the dead. “We have no indications of a perpetrator on the run,” a spokesperson said soon after the attack. Later, police said that they had found a “lifeless person … who we believe could be a perpetrator”. Investigations were ongoing to rule out the involvement of further perpetrators, police said.
A special police unit happened to be driving past the centre when they heard shots being fired, local media outlets reported. The USE taskforce officers were on their way to their accommodation at the police headquarters in Alsterdorf when they stopped to investigate the attack, entering the building and evacuating people.
The Hamburg police say that there is currently “no reliable information about the motive for the crime”. The police said on a Twitter post, “So far, there is no reliable information on the motive for the crime. We ask that you do not share unsecured assumptions and/or spread rumours.”
Police alerted people to an “extreme danger” in the area using a catastrophe warning app. Residents must stay indoors and avoid the area, police said, adding that streets surrounding the church have been cordoned off.
Hamburg’s mayor, Peter Tschentscher, has responded to the attack, calling it “shocking”. “The reports from Alsterdorf / Groß Borstel are shocking. My deepest condolences to the families of the victims,” he said.
175,000 people in Germany, including 3,800 in Hamburg, are Jehovah’s Witnesses, AFP reports. The Christian movement set up in the US in the late 19th century preaches non-violence and is known for door-to-door evangelism.
We now know a little more about the chronology of tonight’s events.
Police received a call soon after 9pm local time, a spokesperson said. Officers quickly arrived at the scene to find several people seriously injured and some dead.
“Then they heard a shot from above, they went upstairs and found one further person,” the spokesperson said.
A bomb squad was sent to the scene as part of a routine precaution, Tagesschau reported. A forensics team has also arrived.
Body of person who 'could be perpetrator' found at scene – police
A dead person was found at the centre and “could be a perpetrator”, Hamburg Police have just said.
“We found a lifeless person in the community center in #GroßBorstel who we believe could be a perpetrator. In order to rule out the involvement of other perpetrators, we carry out checks and search extensively,” the police said on Twitter.
Updated
Here is our video report of tonight’s shooting in Hamburg:
A special police unit happened to be nearby when the shooting happened - local media
Welt is also reporting that a special police unit happened to be passing the Jehovah’s Witness centre when the shooting was happening.
“Police officers happened to be near the crime scene because they were on their way back to their accommodation at the police headquarters in Alsterdorf, as WELT learned. The task forces were the special unit USE, which stands for support patrols for special situations. This unit is only available nationwide from the Hamburg police and was created in 2020 precisely for such situation reports. The model was a similar force from the Vienna police, which had supported the Hamburg police at the G-20 summit in summer 2017.”
Here is what another witness at the scene saw, via local media:
“It was about four firing periods. During these periods, several shots were always fired, approximately 20 seconds to one minute apart,” said Lara Bauch, 23.
“I then looked further out of the window and saw a person running hectically from the ground floor to the first floor at the Jehovah’s Witnesses.” People were later carried by police officers on to the street on their hands and feet.
She said that the services at the centre have “always been very well attended” and that the crowd was a mix of “families, older people, younger people”.
Here is some more footage of emergency workers and police at the scene:
Shots were fired inside a building used by Jehovah’s Witnesses in the German city of Hamburg on Thursday evening, and an unspecified number of people were killed or wounded, police said. https://t.co/OEgpYpVzCg pic.twitter.com/Z01FgJLWaZ
— The Associated Press (@AP) March 9, 2023
Bild has spoken to two witnesses who say they both heard twelve shots fired at the scene.
“We heard shots,” one man said. “There were 12 continuous shots.”
Bloomberg has some video from the scene after the shooting:
Multiple people have been killed in a church shooting in Hamburg, Germany https://t.co/DqCVSY2fJ9 pic.twitter.com/T2XaFmnsLO
— Bloomberg (@business) March 9, 2023
An update just released by Hamburg Police gives no information.
“Our measures and investigations are running at full speed. As soon as there is reliable information about the use in #GroßBorstel, we will inform you immediately at this point,” the police said on Twitter.
Unsere Maßnahmen und Ermittlungen laufen mit Hochdruck. Sobald es gesicherte Informationen zum Einsatz in #GroßBorstel gibt, werden wir euch an dieser Stelle umgehend informieren.#schießerei #hh0903
— Polizei Hamburg (@PolizeiHamburg) March 9, 2023
NDR reporter Heiko Sander has given this report of what happened tonight – he says that police “happened to drive past” when the shooting was happening.
Sander was live an hour ago on Tagesschau. According to him, a special unit happened to drive past heard a shot or several shots went into building evacuated people from the building, including one pregnant woman.
Police later used a helicopter with a thermo imaging camera to check that nobody was left in the building.
Here is a map showing where the shooting happened tonight. The Jehovah’s Witness centre is on Deelboege street in the Grossborstel district:
Jehova’s Witnesses are a sect of Christianity, with many traditional Christian views and others that are unique to the Witnesses.
“They affirm that God-Jehovah-is the most high. Jesus Christ is God’s agent, through whom sinful humans can be reconciled to God,” according to encyclopedia Britannica. They believe that, “Those who acknowledge Jehovah in this life will become members of the millennial kingdom; those who reject him will not go to hell but will face total extinction.”
Tonight’s shooting took place at a Jehovah’s Witness place of worship, known as a Kingdom Hall.
“In the early years of the movement, members met in rented halls, but under Rutherford the Witnesses began to purchase facilities that they designated Kingdom Halls. Members of local congregations, known as “publishers,” meet at Kingdom Halls and engage in doorstep preaching,” according to encyclopedia Britannica.
The Hamburg Police have asked that people “refrain from discussions about perpetrators or the course of events”.
“We are also working at full speed. We ask that you refrain from discussions about perpetrators or the course of events, as well as mutual insults and other unrelated comments. You would make communication about the ongoing deployment in #GroßBorstel much easier for us,” the police said.
Auch wir arbeiten mit Hochdruck. Wir bitten Diskussionen zu Tätern oder zum Tathergang, sowie gegenseitige Beleidigungen & andere Kommentare ohne Bezug zu unterlassen. Ihr würdet uns die Kommunikation zum laufenden Einsatz in #GroßBorstel sehr erleichtern.#schießerei #hh0903
— Polizei Hamburg (@PolizeiHamburg) March 9, 2023
According to the Jehovah’s Witness website, there are more than 2,000 congregations of the religion, a Christian denomination, in Germany.
This is the second shooting at a Jehovah’s Witness centre in less than six months. In December, police in Thornton, Colorado, said they found two adults dead after investigating a suspected murder-suicide at a Jehovah’s Witnesses Kingdom Hall on Christmas morning:
Here are some more pictures from the scene.
This photo shows police patrolling the building after the shooting:
What we know so far
If you’re just joining us, a gunman opened fire just after 9pm on Thursday night in Hamburg, Germany. Here is what we know so far:
At least seven people have been killed in a shooting at a Jehovah’s Witness centre in Hamburg, Germany. 25 more were injured, eight of them seriously.
Police believe the perpetrator may have died in the attack. “We have no indications of a perpetrator on the run,” a police spokesperson at the scene said, adding that investigators instead have “indications that a perpetrator may have been in the building and may be even among the dead.”
The Hamburg police say that there is currently “no reliable information about the motive for the crime”. The police said on a Twitter post, “So far, there is no reliable information on the motive for the crime. We ask that you do not share unsecured assumptions and/or spread rumours.”
Police alerted people to an “extreme danger” in the area using a catastrophe warning app. Residents must stay indoors and avoid the area, police said, adding that streets surrounding the church have been cordoned off.
Hamburg’s mayor, Peter Tschentscher, has responded to the attack, calling it “shocking”. “The reports from Alsterdorf / Groß Borstel are shocking. My deepest condolences to the families of the victims,” he said.
Hamburg’s mayor, Peter Tschentscher, has responded to the attack, calling it “shocking”.
“The emergency services are working flat out to track down the perpetrator (s) and to clarify the background,” he said.
Die Meldungen aus Alsterdorf / Groß Borstel sind erschütternd. Den Angehörigen der Opfer gilt mein tiefes Mitgefühl. Die Einsatzkräfte arbeiten mit Hochdruck an der Verfolgung des / der Täter & der Aufklärung der Hintergründe. Bitte beachten Sie die Hinweise der @PolizeiHamburg. https://t.co/38UcdguLzH
— Peter Tschentscher (@TschenPe) March 9, 2023
Updated
Gunman believed to be among dead – police
Here is more on the gunman from AFP.
The gunman in a shooting in a Hamburg church is believed to be among several dead found in the building, police said Thursday.
“We have no indications of a perpetrator on the run,” a police spokesperson at the scene said, adding that investigators instead have “indications that a perpetrator may have been in the building and may be even among the dead.”
The Hamburg police say that the gunman is believed to be among those killed tonight.
BNO news is quoting a police spokesperson, Holger Vehren, who said there are no known fugitives and suggested the shooter was believed to be among those killed.
“The officers themselves also heard a shot coming from the upper floors of the building. They went upstairs and also found a body there,” Vehren said.
Updated
Seven killed, 25 injured
Bild newspaper reports that seven people had died and 25 injured – eight of them seriously – in the shooting, which it said happened in a Jehovah’s Witness centre soon after 9pm on Thursday evening.
Here is the alert text sent to Hamburg residents after the shooting.
“Avoid the danger area. In the danger area, stay where you are and don’t go outside for the time being,” it says.
Emergency alert sent to people in Hamburg, Germany after mass shooting pic.twitter.com/fv9Rsuembs
— BNO News Live (@BNODesk) March 9, 2023
Broadcaster NDR quoted a police spokesperson saying that at about 9pm local time, one or several unknown perpetrators shot at people in the church.
“The dead people all have gunshot wounds,” the spokesperson was quoted as saying.
It is currently just after 11.30pm local time.
The Hamburg police say that there is currently “no reliable information about the motive for the crime”.
The police tweeted, in German, “So far, there is no reliable information on the motive for the crime. We ask that you do not share unsecured assumptions and/or spread rumours.”
Bislang liegen keine gesicherten Informationen zu dem Tatmotiv vor.
— Polizei Hamburg (@PolizeiHamburg) March 9, 2023
Wir bitten darum, keine ungesicherten Vermutungen zu teilen und/oder Gerüchte zu streuen. #schießerei #hh0903
Updated
Some pictures are coming in from the scene:
The latest update from Hamburg police is in:
The shooting took place at around 9pm, police said, adding that there were “one or more unknown” assailants.
They alerted people to an “extreme danger” in the area using a catastrophe warning app.
Residents must stay indoors and avoid the area, police said, adding that streets surrounding the church have been cordoned off.
Welcome and summary
Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the deadly shooting at a Jehovah’s Witness centre in the German city of Hamburg. I’m Helen Sullivan, and I’ll be bringing you the latest. You can get in touch with me here.
Six people are dead and several injured, local media says. The perpetrators are on the run. Police have said several people died in the shooting.
“According to first indications, shots were fired in a church in Deelboege street in the Grossborstel district. Several people were seriously injured, some even fatally,” police wrote on Twitter.
Bild is reporting that the shooting took place at a Jehovah’s Witness church.
We will be bringing you updates as they come in.
Here is our report on the shooting:
Updated
