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Several People Killed in Hamburg Church Shooting, German Police Say

Several people died and others were injured in a shooting at a church of Jehovah’s Witnesses in the northern German city of Hamburg, according to local police.

HAMBURG, GERMANY - MARCH 09: Police officers gather at the scene of a shooting that has left at least six people dead and four wounded in Alsterdorf district, on March 9, 2023 in Hamburg, Germany. (Photo by Gregor Fischer/Getty Images) Photographer: Gregor Fischer/Getty Images Europe
HAMBURG, GERMANY - MARCH 09: Police officers gather at the scene of a shooting that has left at least six people dead and four wounded in Alsterdorf district, on March 9, 2023 in Hamburg, Germany. (Photo by Gregor Fischer/Getty Images) Photographer: Gregor Fischer/Getty Images Europe

Several people died and others were injured in a shooting at a church of Jehovah’s Witnesses in the northern German city of Hamburg, in an incident Chancellor Olaf Scholz called “a brutal act of violence.”

Police were called to the scene at about 9:15 p.m. local time on Thursday after people nearby heard shots, Hamburg police spokesman Holger Vehren told reporters.

Scholz, a former mayor of the port city, said in a tweet that his thoughts are with the victims and their families. Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said she was “shocked by the terrible act of violence” and an investigation is being conducted “at full speed.”

Police officers at the scene of a shooting in Alsterdorf district, Hamburg, on March 9. Photographer: Gregor Fischer/Getty Images  
Police officers at the scene of a shooting in Alsterdorf district, Hamburg, on March 9. Photographer: Gregor Fischer/Getty Images  

Hamburg police said early Friday in a series of tweets that evidence suggested one individual was involved in the shooting. They had found one body at the site that they suspected was a perpetrator and investigations are still ongoing, they added.

German newspaper Bild reported that eight people are dead, including the suspected shooter and an unborn child. At least another eight were injured, the paper said, citing city police.

(Updates with Scholz, Faeser comments)

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