Status: 03/14/2023 4:47 p.m
After the shooting on the premises of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Hamburg, the heads of the interior authorities, police and public prosecutor’s office informed about the current status of the investigation. It was also about the gun control, which took place in February at the perpetrator.
According to Interior Senator Andy Grote (SPD), the authorities are still very busy with the shooting five days later. He met with many emergency services, interior ministers and also many people from the ranks of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Grote received enormous recognition for the performance of the Hamburg police during their mission. The interior senator thanked the officials, who were at the scene of the crime very quickly and interrupted the amok attack. “The emergency services went into the building with great courage. Without knowing exactly what was waiting for them behind the door,” says Grote. Grote also thanked the rescue workers, who very quickly treated the injured on site, and the doctors in the hospital.
One person is still in mortal danger
Seven people and the perpetrator himself died as a result of the shooting. “A total of nine people were physically injured in the act,” said the deputy head of Hamburg state security, Uwe Stockmann, on Tuesday. Seven of them suffered gunshot wounds. According to Stockmann, seven of the injured live in Hamburg and two in Schleswig-Holstein. According to the information, there are still six injured people in the hospital, one person is still in mortal danger.
Attorney General: No evidence of accomplices
According to Arnold Keller, the chief public prosecutor in the state security department of the general public prosecutor’s office, what happened on Thursday evening is currently being reconstructed as completely as possible. With regard to possible accomplices – in addition to the perpetrator Philipp F. – Keller said that no other people have been criminally considered so far. A book published by the perpetrator and its website are currently being checked very carefully. It is certain that Philipp F. has not previously appeared under criminal law. There was no evidence of such an act.
No final verdict on the motive for the crime
The Attorney General’s Office took over the investigation on Sunday. This was justified with the relationship of Philipp F. to the religious community of Jehovah’s Witnesses. F. was a member there until a year and a half ago, then left in his own interest, but not on good terms. It cannot be ruled out that F. acted against this community out of hatred. “It is not yet possible to say conclusively whether this is ultimately the motive for the crime,” said Keller. According to the police, there are now hundreds of clues as to where the perpetrator bought more than 60 magazines for the murder weapon online.
Meyer: No misconduct by the weapons authority
Hamburg’s police chief Ralf Martin Meyer said on Tuesday that he saw no misconduct on the part of the weapons authority. After receiving an anonymous tip about a possible mental illness and danger from Philipp F., she acted within the scope of the legal possibilities and did not find any abnormalities. Two officers also made an unannounced home visit to the perpetrator on February 7 to check the storage of the weapons. Even if the officials’ research on a book by the perpetrator, in which he presented mass murders as legitimate, among other things, had not led to any results, he “couldn’t blame the employees,” said Meyer. According to him, the anonymous reference letter referred to the book. The officials entered the perpetrator’s name and “book” in the Internet search – and received no result. It was right, “that we critically question after such an act, the weapons authority has done everything right here,” said Grote. “After everything I’ve heard so far, I have no reason to doubt that the work here has been done properly.”
Rampage on Thursday evening in Alsterdorf
35-year-old Philipp F. killed seven people, including an unborn child, and himself in the ambush on Thursday evening on Deelböge Street in the Alsterdorf district. The perpetrator had fired more than 100 times with a semi-automatic pistol. According to the police, he had been in legal possession of this weapon as a sports shooter since December 12.
Further information
