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German national opens fire in Hamburg congregation, killing and wounding several

No motive for the attack is clear yet, but officials say the shooter was a former member of the Jehovah’s Witnesses

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A forensic expert walks beside police outside a Jehovah’s Witnesses building in Hamburg, Germany.

A forensic expert walks beside police outside a Jehovah’s Witnesses building in Hamburg, Germany Friday, March 10, 2023. Shots were fired inside the building used by Jehovah’s Witnesses in the northern German city of Hamburg on Thursday evening, with multiple people killed and wounded, police said.

Markus Schreiber, Associated Press

A German national shot more than 100 rounds in a Jehovah’s Witnesses hall in Hamburg, Germany, Thursday night, killing at least six people.

A 28-week unborn baby was also killed during the shooting, but the baby’s mother survived, CBS News reported. Several people were wounded and are receiving treatment at a local hospital.

No motive for the shooting has been established, but police have identified the suspect and say he was a former member of the Jehovah’s Witnesses congregation, per CBS News.

The shooter died by suicide once police arrived at the scene.

Hamburg Mayor Chancellor Olaf Scholz said the shooting was “a brutal act of violence,” per The Associated Press.

“Several members of a Jehovah community fell victim to a brutal act of violence last night. My thoughts are with them and their loved ones,” Scholz tweeted, per CNN.

The German Jehovah’s Witnesses group said in a statement that “our deepest sympathy goes to the families of the victims and the traumatized eyewitnesses. The local ministers are doing their best to support them in this difficult hour,” per The Washington Post.

Interior Minister Andy Grote told reporters, “Hamburg has never seen a mass shooting like this,” per CNN.