The alleged assassin who opened fire in a Jehovah’s Witness church, killing seven people and critically injuring more, has been identified and identified.
According to Bild, the perpetrator of the overnight massacre at the Hamburg, Germany, facility is 35-year-old Philipp F, a business centre employee.
According to unconfirmed reports cited by the Guardian, the suspect is thought to have once belonged to a religious group.
Former Hamburg mayor and current chancellor Olaf Scholz called the shooting “a brutal act of violence.” The attack’s motivation, however, has not yet been revealed.
A person who was found dead inside the building after the attack may have been the lone shooter, according to police statements made throughout the course of the evening.
Residents of the Alsterdorf district received mobile phone warnings of a “life-threatening situation” not long after the violence started, according to the DPA news agency.
According to student Laura Bauch, who lives nearby, there were roughly four shooting sessions, according to German news agency DPA.
According to Bauch, she noticed a person running from the Jehovah’s Witnesses hall’s first floor to second floor as she peered out of her window.
Shots were heard by Gregor Miesbach, who lives nearby and caught a figure entering the building through a window on camera.
The figure then appears to emerge from the hallway, is visible in the courtyard, and fires additional shots through a first-floor window before the lights in the room go out. Shots can then be heard coming from inside during the video.
According to AP, police reportedly arrived during the incident but did not fire their own weapons.
