Please enable JS and disable any ad blocker Falling tree limbs in Birmingham kills one person WASHINGTON (TND) — At least six people were shot and killed on Thursday night "According to initial findings, a shot was fired in a church on Deelböge Street in the GroßBorstel district," police noted on Twitter. "Several people were seriously injured, some even fatally. We are on site with a large contingent of forces." Holger Vehren, who is a police spokesman, said there was no immediate indication that a shooter was on the run and that it appeared likely that the perpetrator or perpetrators were either in the building or among the dead. BBC said media outlets in Hamburg identified the location as a Jehovah's Witness center. Local media footage showed a big police presence outside the Jehovah's Witnesses' Kingdom Hall, a modern three-story building. "So far, there is no reliable information on the motive for the crime," police said on Twitter. "We ask that you do not share unsecured assumptions and/or spread rumours." The shooting reportedly happened shortly after 9 p.m. Student Laura Bauch, who lives nearby, said “there were about four periods of shooting,” German news agency dpa reported. “There were always several shots in these periods, roughly at intervals of 20 seconds to a minute.” She said she looked out her window and saw a person running from the ground floor to the second floor of the Jehovah's Witnesses hall. Police said further details on what happened and on any possible motive weren’t immediately available. "We are also working at full speed," police noted. "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 it much easier for us to communicate about the ongoing operation in #GroßBorstel." EDITOR'S NOTE: The Associated Press contributed to this report. Notifications can be managed in browser preferences. Shooting took place in Gross Borstel district I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our Privacy notice Multiple people have died and several others are injured after a shooting in a church in Hamburg The Hamburg city government said the shooting took place at a Jehovah’s Witness church in the Gross Borstel district on Thursday evening “My deepest condolences to the families of the victims,” Hamburg mayor Peter Tschentscher wrote on Twitter in German on Thursday “The emergency services are working flat out to track down the perpetrator(s) and to clarify the background.” “So far, there is no reliable information on the motive for the crime,” the Hamburg police said in a statement toThe Washington Post Newspaper Bild reported that seven people had been killed and eight more injured after the shooting but the official death toll is yet to be confirmed by police Other local outlets have put the death toll at six Local police have “indications that a perpetrator may have been in the building and may be even among the dead,” according to the BBC “We have no indications of a perpetrator on the run,” officials told the broadcaster “We found a lifeless person in a 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 Hamburg police department later wrote on Twitter in German Officials are still in the process of who was inside the church during the shooting, CNN reports Hamburg Police said on Twitter: “Several people were seriously injured We are on site with a large contingent of forces.” By coincidence, a unit of specialised armed police were already in the area when shooting broke out, Welt reported Police said they were alerted to the shooting about 9.15pm local time and were on the scene quickly Emergency services are at the church and have been seen taking people out of the building sent an alert out at around 9pm (8pm GMT) saying: “One or more unknown perpetrators shot at people in a church” Residents nearby have been told not to leave their homes “It was about four firing periods. During these periods, several shots were always fired, approximately 20 seconds to one minute apart,” said shooting witness Lara Bauch, 23, according to The Guardian “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,” she added Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies Hamburg city government says the shooting took place in the Gross Borstel district on Thursday evening You don't have permission to access the page you requested What is this page?The website you are visiting is protected.For security reasons this page cannot be displayed German media reported that at least six people were killed in a shooting in the northern German city of Hamburg The city's fire service confirmed the number of dead, but it was unclear if there were any people taken to area hospitals, the Guardian reported German news outlet Deutsche Welle cited police information reporting that law enforcement converged on the city's Alsterdorf area Reports said that police also announced a "large-scale operation" was carried out in the city's Gross Borstel district nearby Germany's RTL News reported that the shooting happened at around 9 p.m local time when a person or multiple people inside a place of worship began firing upon those inside DW reported that the location of the shooting was a Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses on Hamburg's Deelböge street Police asked residents in the area to evacuate Authorities in Hamburg used cell phone push alerts to warn residents that the suspects were on the run and had fled the scene after the shooting Shots were fired inside a building used by Jehovah’s Witnesses in the northern German city of Hamburg on Thursday evening The shooting took place in the Gross Borstel district a few kilometers (miles) north of the downtown area of Germany’s second-biggest city Corpses are carried out of a Jehovah’s Witness building and loaded into hearses in Hamburg Shots were fired inside the building used by Jehovah’s Witnesses in the northern German city of Hamburg on Thursday evening Police officers in special equipment walk through a Jehovah’s Witness building in Hamburg German police say shots were fired inside a building used by Jehovah’s Witnesses in Hamburg and an unspecified number of people were killed or wounded Morticians bring a covered stretcher to their vehicle at a building used by Jehovah’s Witnesses in Hamburg Shots were fired inside the building on Thursday evening A forensic expert stands beside police outside a Jehovah’s Witness building in Hamburg Forensic experts investigates at a Jehovah’s Witness building in Hamburg Police secured a street outside a Jehovah’s Witness building in Hamburg Investigators secure evidence from a Jehovah’s Witness building in Hamburg Armed police officers near the scene of a shooting in Hamburg 2023 after one or more people opened fire in a church The Hamburg city government says the shooting took place in the Gross Borstel district on Thursday evening Investigators and forensic experts stand outside a Jehovah’s Witness building in Hamburg A Jehovah’s Witness building is seen behind a fence in Hamburg Forensic experts walk to a Jehovah’s Witness building in Hamburg Armed police officers and emergency services near the scene of a shooting in Hamburg Forensic expert stand at a Jehovah’s Witness building in Hamburg Police and prosecutors talk to the media at a press conference after the shooting at a Jehovah’s Witness building in Hamburg shakes hands with a police officer at the site where several people were killed last night in a rampage during a Jehovah’s Witness event and Hamburg’s Senator for the Interior and Sports Andy Grote bow near flowers laid at the site where several people were killed last night in a rampage during a Jehovah’s Witness event including a woman who was 28 weeks pregnant and lost the baby Chancellor Olaf Scholz said the death toll could rise said the city was “speechless in view of this violence” and “mourning those whose lives were taken so brutally.” All of the victims were German citizens apart from two wounded women one with Ugandan citizenship and one with Ukrainian Officials said the suspected assailant was a 35-year-old German man identified only as Philipp F. Police said he had left the congregation “voluntarily but apparently not on good terms,” about a year and a half ago A website registered in the name of someone who fits the police description says that he grew up in the Bavarian town of Kempten in “a strict religious evangelical household.” also links to a self-published book about “God legally owned a semi-automatic Heckler & Koch Pistole P30 handgun He fired more than 100 shots during the attack and the head of the Hamburg prosecutors office said hundreds more rounds were found in a search of the man’s apartment Germany’s gun laws are more restrictive than those in the United States but permissive compared with some European neighbors The German government announced plans last year to crack down on gun ownership by suspected extremists and to tighten background checks anyone who wants to acquire a firearm must show that they are fit to do so including by proving that they require a gun Reasons can include being part of a sports shooting club or being a hunter Hamburg Police Chief Ralf Martin Meyer said the man was visited by officers after they received an anonymous tip in January claiming that he had “particular anger toward religious believers in particular toward Jehovah’s Witnesses and his former employer.” Officers said the man was cooperative and found no grounds to take away his weapon “The bottom line is that an anonymous tip in which someone says they’re worried a person might have a psychological illness isn’t in itself a basis for (such) measures,” he said Germany’s top security official laid a wreath of flowers outside the hall to commemorate the victims and thanked police before taking questions from reporters Asked whether the attack could have been prevented Interior Minister Nancy Faser said it was necessary to wait for the investigation to conclude but she acknowledged that changes were needed in the way background checks are conducted and information is exchanged between authorities She said a bill now making its way through the legislative process would require gun owners to undergo psychological tests forensic investigators in protective white suits could be seen outside the hall officers placed yellow cones on the ground and windowsills to mark evidence “We can assume that they saved many people’s lives this way,” Hamburg state Interior Minister Andy Grote told reporters officers found people with apparent gunshot wounds on the ground floor and then heard a shot from an upper floor where they found a fatally wounded person believed to be the shooter according to police spokesman Holger Vehren heard shots and filmed a figure entering the building through a window The figure later apparently emerges from the hall is seen in the courtyard and then fires more shots through a first floor window before the lights in the room go out Miebach told German television news agency NonstopNews that he heard at least 25 shots “It’s really 50 meters (yards) from our house and many people died,” she said Jehovah’s Witnesses are part of an international church founded in the United States in the 19th century and headquartered in Warwick The church claims a worldwide membership of about 8.7 million Members are known for their evangelistic efforts that include knocking on doors and distributing literature in public squares The denomination’s practices include a refusal to bear arms salute a national flag or participate in secular government a U.S.-based spokesman for Jehovah’s Witnesses said in an emailed statement Friday that members “worldwide grieve for the victims of this traumatic event.” ___ Moulson and Jordans reported from Berlin Associated Press journalist David Rising in Bangkok contributed to this report The scene of the shooting was a Kingdom Hall, next to a car repair shop in the Gross Borstel district, a few miles from Hamburg city centre The scene of the shooting was a Kingdom Hall next to a car repair shop in the Gross Borstel district A man suspected of going on a killing spree in Hamburg was a former Jehovah’s Witness Police said seven people were killed – which officials said includes an unborn baby – inside a Kingdom Hall of the Jehovah’s Witnesses while eight were hurt the state interior minister Andy Grote told a briefing on Friday A quick police intervention prevented more people from being killed Police spokesman Holger Vehren said officers were alerted to the shooting at about 9.15pm and arrived on the scene quickly After officers arrived and found people with apparent gunshot wounds on the ground floor they heard a shot from an upper floor and found a fatally wounded person upstairs who may have been the gunman Good evening and welcome to our live coverage of the reported shooting at a church centre in Hamburg We’ll be following all the latest details live Get all the details in our breaking news story Police are in the process of investigating a shooting that claimed multiple lives at a Hamburg church centre where local officials say they haven’t identified a motive behind the violence Witnesses are beginning to recount what happened on Thursday evening during a shooting at a church centre in Hamburg “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, according to The Guardian Police have discovered the body of an individual who may be responsible for tonight’s shooting “We found a lifeless person in a 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 Hamburg police department wrote on Twitter in German on Thursday Hamburg is in shock after at least six people were killed in a shooting at a Jehovah’s Witness centre on Thursday evening “God, tonight we’re shattered, shocked,” the Archdiocese of Hamburg wrote on Twitter on Thursday in German Tonight we are with those whose lives have changed in the blink of an eye.” A shooting at a Jehovah’s Witness centre in Hamburg Jehovah’s Witnesses are a minority in Germany The shooting on Thursday in a Jehovah’s Witness centre in Hamburg marks a relative rarity in Germany Compared to the United States, which often has more than one mass shooting per day the country has experienced some shootings Here’s more information on those incidents “My deepest condolences to the families of the victims,” Hamburg mayor Peter Tschentscher wrote on Twitter in German on Thursday. “The emergency services are working flat out to track down the perpetrator(s) and to clarify the background.” Get all the details in our breaking news report. “My deepest condolences to the families of the victims,” Hamburg mayor Peter Tschentscher wrote on Twitter in German on Thursday “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, according to The Guardian “God, tonight we’re shattered, shocked,” the Archdiocese of Hamburg wrote on Twitter on Thursday in German A German news headline reading ‘Bloodbath in Church!’ about a shooting on 9 March in the city of Hamburg Compared to the United States, which often has more than one mass shooting per day “My deepest condolences to the families of the victims,” Hamburg mayor Peter Tschentscher wrote on Twitter in German on Thursday. “The emergency services are working flat out to track down the perpetrator(s) and to clarify the background.” The TimesThe gunman who killed six people at a Jehovah’s Witnesses hall in Hamburg was a former member of the group who believed he was a prophet shooting a pregnant woman in the abdomen and wounding another eight people before fleeing and killing himself when police entered the building the city senator in charge of the security services “We’ve been through a thing or two in Hamburg is the kind of thing we had previously only ever seen on television