The shooting attack at a church
in Hamburg
, Germany, which left
eight people dead
, including an unborn baby, was the work of
Philipp F
, 35, a former Jehovah's Witness who cowardly fired several rounds from a window, as a video shows, and
then committed suicide
.
The new footage is dramatic and appears to show the suspect firing multiple shots
through a window in the temple corridor.
All those shot dead
were German citizens.
Forensics work in the area of the facts.
Photo: AP
Police received a call at around 9:15 p.m. local time (5:15 p.m. in Argentina) on Thursday to report that shots had been fired at the building on Deelböge street, Gross Borstel district, police spokesman Holger Vehren said.
The officers who entered the temple of Jehovah's Witnesses were met with carnage: corpses on the floor and seriously injured people.
Police identified the attacker on Friday, while investigations continued.
Who was Philipp F., the attacker
He was a former member of the Witness community, with which he was in conflict, he said.
"Philipp F. was a former member" of Jehovah's Witnesses, a senior police officer told reporters, adding that the attacker left the community about 18 months ago, "apparently not on good terms
.
"
Police cordoned off the scene of the attack in Hamburg.
Photo: Tobias SCHWARZ / AFP
After the massacre, he committed suicide.
He took his own life when the police arrived and used a pistol for which he had a permit for the killing.
"The attacker fled to the first floor of the building and there he committed suicide, so we are talking about a total of
eight deaths
," said Hamburg's Interior Councilor Andy Grote at a press conference.
When the agents entered the building, which was used by Jehovah's Witnesses, they immediately saw how
an individual with a firearm fled to the upper floor
, confirmed the director of the police operation, Mathias Tresp.
Next, they found "a lifeless man with a lethal wound and a firearm next to him," said Tresp, who emphasized that the quick action of the police managed to "isolate" the attacker from his victims and prevented them from happening. more dead.
Hamburg public prosecutor Ralf Peter Anders gives information during a press conference.
Photo: Tobias Schwarz / AFP
The representatives of the Prosecutor's Office and the Criminal Investigation Office of the police indicated for their part that the attacker, a German national,
had no criminal record
of any kind and had a weapons permit as
a sports shooter.
For the crime, he used the pistol that was registered in his name and multiple boxes of ammunition
were found in his house
.
In addition, the police confiscated electronic devices that are still under investigation.
Although the motivation for the attack is yet to be clarified,
there is no indication that there was a political background
, but rather that the authorities pointed to a possible personal dispute, although they did not go into details.
Philipp P. left the religious community about a year and a half ago, "voluntarily but not in good manners", according to the spokesman for the Criminal Investigation Office, Thomas Radzuweit, although information on the circumstances of his departure is currently unknown
. they are contradictory.
The seven fatalities in the attack are
four men and two women
, between the ages of 33 and 60 and all of them German nationals, as well as
a seven-month-old unborn child
.
None of them were relatives of the attacker.
Eight people were injured and four of them remain in serious condition for the moment, six of whom have German nationality, in addition to including a Ugandan and a Ukrainian woman.
The events occurred when some fifty Jehovah's Witnesses were gathered celebrating a religious service.
Source: EFE and BBC News
ap
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