Several dead in a shooting in Hamburg – RT World News

Hamburg police said they may have found the gunman’s body behind a mass shooting at a Jehovah’s Witness hall on Thursday, which claimed the lives of several people.

Police did not provide details on the death toll, although several German media reported that at least seven people were killed and eight others injured. The potential motives behind the shooting are unclear.

Shots were fired in the Gross Borstel neighborhood around 9 p.m. local time on Thursday. Officers arrived at the scene and ordered residents in the area to “seek shelter immediately” also telling local residents to stay indoors as they search for suspects.

Hamburg police later said they had “found a lifeless person in a community center in Gross Borstel, which we assume could be a perpetrator.”

A statement noted that “Police measures in the region are gradually being halted”, but added that a full security check was underway to rule out the involvement of other perpetrators.

Police spokesman Holger Vehren said earlier that after officers arrived at the scene, they heard a gunshot upstairs in the building before finding a fatally injured person. Vehren suggested it may have been the shooter, adding that officers did not have to open fire.

According to local newspaper Hamburger Abendblatt, Jehovah’s Witnesses had gathered at the center for a weekly Bible study meeting. The outlet also reported that 17 people who emerged unscathed from the attack were being treated by emergency services.

Founded in the late 19th century in the United States, Jehovah’s Witnesses are a worldwide Christian movement that preaches nonviolence and is known for door-to-door evangelism. Its community in Germany numbers approximately 170,000 people.

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