7 Dead, 20+ injured In German Mass Church Shooting

[Gondwanaland]

No real details on the shooter, but at least 6 are dead (7th may be the shooter, it isn't clear). and many more injured in Hamburg Germany after a shooting at a Jehovah's Witness church

A number of people have been killed in a shooting at a Jehovah's Witness meeting hall in the north German city of Hamburg.https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-64910415

At least seven people have been killed and dozens were injured after a shooting at a Jehovah’s Witness centre in the northern German city of Hamburg, local media have reported, citing police and emergency services.

Police said on Thursday evening that the gunman was believed to be among the dead, and that a motive was as yet unclear.




“We have no indications of a perpetrator on the run,” a spokesperson said soon after the attack. Later, police said that they had found a “lifeless person … who we believe could be a perpetrator”. Investigations were ongoing to rule out the involvement of any other people, police said.

Seven people had died and 25 were injured – eight of them seriously – in the shooting, Bild newspaper reported, which it said began at the Jehovah’s Witness centre soon after 9pm.

As news of the shooting emerged, Hamburg police saidGermany are Jehovah’s Witnesses, including 3,800 in Hamburg. The Christian movement set up in the US in the late 19th century preaches non-violence and is known for door-to-door evangelism.

The mayor of Hamburg, Peter Tschentscher, said: “I extend my deepest sympathy to the families of the victims. Police are working at full speed to pursue the perpetrators and clarify the background.”

Germany has been rocked by several mass shootings in recent years.

In February 2020 a far-right extremist shot dead 10 people and wounded five others in the central German city of Hanau.

And in 2019, two people were killed after a neo-Nazi tried to storm a synagogue in Halle on the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...mburg-shooting

[rogue06]

[Diogenes]

It's called a "Kingdom Hall". If this was a synagogue, the motive would have have been speculated, but since people aren't really told that the JWs also suffered in the Holocaust, few would make the connection.

[Thoughtful Monk]

To me, first this shows the US's propensity for mass-shootings is being exported to the world.

Second, I think we need to face up to we are living in a world that is growing increasingly violent at both the government and individual levels.

[rogue06]

To me, first this shows the US's propensity for mass-shootings is being exported to the world.

Second, I think we need to face up to we are living in a world that is growing increasingly violent at both the government and individual levels.

Germany has had a problem with mass shootings for a few decades now (although not nearly as often as in the U.S.), so there is no reason to theorize some sort of outside cause or influence.

[Thoughtful Monk]

Germany has had a problem with mass shootings for a few decades now (although not nearly as often as in the U.S.), so there is no reason to theorize some sort of outside cause or influence.

You're probably right. I must have been channeling my inner H_A.

[One Bad Pig]

It's called a "Kingdom Hall". If this was a synagogue, the motive would have have been speculated, but since people aren't really told that the JWs also suffered in the Holocaust, few would make the connection.

JWs weren't singled out because of their race, but because they refused to support the war effort. Other groups were persecuted too; connecting this to Neo-Nazis seems a bit of a stretch.