Multiple people were killed and others seriously injured in a shooting at a Jehovah’s Witness hall Thursday night in Hamburg, according to police.
“We assume that there is one perpetrator,” the police said in a statement Friday morning.
Police said they received reports of the shooting at about 9 p.m. local time in the northern harbor city, where Chancellor Olaf Scholz previously served as mayor and his predecessor Angela Merkel was born. Local media reported that either six or seven people were killed during an event for Jehovah’s Witnesses. A shot was fired after officers arrived on the scene and a fatally injured person was found on an upper floor of the building who may have been the shooter, though this is still not certain, according to reports.
Police said on Twitter that the motivation for the attack is still under investigation and urged people not to spread rumors online.
Authorities initially sent a warning advising locals to avoid the area and remain indoors temporarily.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz wrote on Twitter Friday morning, “Bad news from Hamburg. Several members of a Jehovah congregation fell victim to a brutal act of violence last night. My thoughts are with them and their loved ones. And with the security forces who have had a tough assignment.”
Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said an investigation into the attack was going “at full speed.”
Hamburg Mayor Peter Tschentscher called the news “shocking,” saying: “My deepest sympathies are with the relatives of the victims,” Tschentscher tweeted. “Emergency services are working intensively to trace the perpetrator(s) and clarify the background.”
This article has been updated.
