Church shooting, German police seek motive for attack

Hamburg police said in a tweet on Friday morning that a dead man, believed to be the attacker, had been found at the Grosse Borstel community center. “Given the current circumstances, we believe there was only one attacker,” the tweet said.

A gunman attacked a Jehovah’s Witness church in Hamburg, Germany on Thursday, killing at least eight people and injuring several others. Police say they are investigating the motive behind the attack.

The Jehovah’s Witnesses Kingdom Hall in Gros Borstel district was attacked around 9pm local time on Thursday. According to a police spokesman, “all the deceased were shot.”

He said the police received information about the incident around 9:30 pm and immediately rushed to the scene as it was “very close to coincidence.” The police said that at present the background of the attacker and the motives behind the attack are not clear.

The police said in their message on Twitter that according to the current situation, they believe that only one criminal was involved in the attack. Police operations in the vicinity are now being reduced and the motive behind the crime is being investigated.

The mayor of the city, Peter Schentscher, has expressed regret over the shooting incident. Expressing sympathy to the families of the victims, he said that the emergency services are making all possible efforts to clarify the situation.

Police said a function was being held in the three-storey building on Thursday evening. According to a local newspaper, members of the Jehovah’s Movement gathered there for a weekly Bible study meeting. The Jehovah’s Movement is an American Christian movement founded in the late 19th century that preaches nonviolence and is known for door-to-door evangelism. It has about 175,000 adherents in Germany, including 3,800 in Hamburg.

Germany has seen a number of attacks by Islamic extremists and far-right extremists in recent years. In December 2016, an extremist rammed a truck into a Christmas market in Berlin, killing 12 people. The Tunisian attacker, who was not granted refugee status, was a supporter of ISIS.

Germany, Europe’s most populous country, has been particularly targeted by jihadist groups because it has taken part in the coalition against ISIS in Iraq and Syria. But far-right extremists have also carried out several attacks in the country in recent years. After which the government was also accused of not doing enough to stop neo-Nazi violence.

In February 2020, at least 10 people were killed and five others injured in a shooting by far-right extremists in the city of Hanau. In 2019, a neo-Nazi attacked a Jewish synagogue in Helle, killing two people.