Eight people have died and several have been injured as a result of a shooting in the city of hamburg, located in northern Germany. An individual, who has also died, has opened fire on a group of people in a neighborhood church in gross borstel. Local media identified the place as a center of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Witnesses speak of “blood bath” and “terrifying scenes” caused by the shooter.
At the moment, the authorities speak of “isolated incident”but it escapes no one that Germany has been victim several jihadist attacks. In a statement on their social networks, the Police said that “there is no reliable information about the motive for the crime” and appealed to the public not to share assumptions or spread rumors.
#Aktuell kommt is in #Alsterdorf zu einem größeren Polizeieinsatz. Wir prüfen derzeit die Hintergründe und informieren hier in Kürze über nähere Erkenntnisse. pic.twitter.com/ISit1BZJ5t
— Polizei Hamburg (@PolizeiHamburg) March 9, 2023
According to information shared by German public broadcasting D.W., the shooting took place in a center of Jehovah’s Witnesses, where the Police have moved “with a large contingent of forces.” Although the authorities have not confirmed official figures, the aforementioned German station includes the testimony of a Police spokesperson who does point out that “All the dead have gunshot wounds”.
The Hamburg Police have highlighted on their official Twitter profile that, for the moment, “there is no reliable information on the motive for the crime”, and has urged the population not to disseminate information that may be false. The local authorities have appealed to the residents of the area to leave their homes as part of the police operation, which at the moment does not have information on any suspect who has fled. The newspaper Bild mention a “blood bath” and affirms that the events occurred “in a church of Jehovah’s Witnesses.”
Germany has been victim of jihadist attacks, in particular an attack with a vehicle claimed by the Islamic State group that caused 12 deaths in December 2016 in Berlin. This jihadist attack is the bloodiest committed in Germany.
Germany continues to be a target of jihadist groups, in particular because of its participation in the coalition that fights the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria and in which it deployed in Afghanistan after 2001.
From 2013 to the end of 2021, the number of Islamists considered dangerous present in Germany increased fivefold and is currently 615, according to the Ministry of the Interior. The number of Salafists is estimated at 11,000, or twice as many as in 2013.
Following a warning from the FBI, the German authorities had announced on January 8 the arrest of two Iranians suspected of having wanted to commit an “Islamist” chemical attack.
