A lone gunman entered the Jehovah’s Witnesses center in Hamburg, Germany, and opened fire. Seven people were killed, including an unborn child, according to police, and eight were injured — several seriously. The shooter took his own life.
The 35-year-old gunman referred to by police as “Philip F” was a former community member who left the church 18 months ago.
Hamburg’s head of police Matthias Tresp said at a news conference on Friday that the police had been warned about the man in January.
An anonymous letter was sent to police about him in January saying he might be suffering from a mental illness and that he should not be allowed access to weapons as he was not seeking medical help.
He held a sports shooter licence and was reported to have felt enraged against religious people, particularly Jehovah’s Witnesses, and his former employer, [head of police Matthias] Tresp said.
The gunman was not married, had been living in Hamburg since 2014 and studied in Munich before that.
When Hamburg police visited the gunman in response to the letter on February 7, the man appeared cooperative and the police felt a mental health exam wasn’t necessary.
He was described then as being “happy to give information.”
Philip K fired ten shots at a woman inside her car in a parking lot, but she escaped. He then began firing through a window at the Jehovah’s Witness center before moving indoors.
Germany’s gun laws are more restrictive than those in the U..S. but are not nearly as prohibitive as other European nations. According to Germany’s National Firearms Register in 2013, Germany has the fourth-highest gun ownership of any nation. Hunters don’t need a special firearms permit, just a license to hunt.
The gunman used a Koch semi-automatic pistol he had legally owned since December.
The German government announced plans last year to crack down on gun ownership by suspected extremists and to tighten background checks. Currently, anyone wanting to acquire a firearm must show that they are suited to do so, including by proving that they require a gun. Reasons can include being part of a sports shooting club or being a hunter.
Asked about a possible political response to the shooting, a spokesperson for Germany’s Interior Ministry, Maximilian Kall, said it was necessary to wait for the results of the investigations before drawing conclusions.
Imagine that! Waiting “for the results of the investigations before drawing conclusions.” It would be nice for once if all sides could take a breather and wait for information before forming an asinine opinion.
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