Last Thursday night in Germany, a gunman entered the Jehovah’s Witnesses’ north Hamburg church during their service which had fifty members present.
The shooter let off over one hundred bullets from a handgun, causing the death of six people, including four men and two women aged 33-60, all German citizens, and an unborn child.
Additionally, eight more were injured, four of which are in critical condition. The suspected shooter was later found dead, having taken his own life after the rampage.
Hamburg police responded to the first emergency call at 9:04 pm and sent a large amount of officers along with special forces to the scene.
The shooter was identified as Philipp Fusz, a 35-year-old German resident that used to be a part of the same congregation. Authorities had received a tip that he was not to possess any firearms due to mental instability but paid him an unexpected visit which did not cause any cause for alarm.
In response to the attack, Chancellor Olaf Scholz referred to it as a “brutal act of violence” and Hamburg Mayor Peter Tschentscher offered his deepest sympathies to the victims’ families.
The church issued a statement expressing their deep sorrow and offering prayers to all those affected. David Semonian, a spokesman for Jehovah’s Witnesses based in the U.S., conveyed his condolences to the members of the faith all over the world.