Germany church attack statement: ‘There is no suspicion of terrorism’

The gunman who killed 7 people in a church in Hamburg, Germany, was reported to have committed suicide and there was no evidence that the incident was a terrorist attack.

The public prosecutor’s office, the police and the State Ministry of the Interior informed the public at the press conference about the attack on the church belonging to Jehovah’s Witnesses in the Grossborstel district of Hamburg. The attack, which killed 7 people, including a 7-month-old baby in the womb, and injured 8 people last night, was claimed to have been carried out by Philipp F, 35, a former member of the church.

The woman whose baby died in her womb was reported to have survived the attack with injuries.

Hamburg Senator for the Interior Andy Grote described the shooting as a series of murders. “We have never experienced an attack of this magnitude before, an event like this,” Grote said. “This is the worst crime in our city’s recent history,” he said.

It was shared that Philipp F, who took his own life after committing the attack with a semi-automatic weapon, is a former member of the Hamburg Congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses and left the congregation voluntarily 1.5 years ago. It was noted that the investigation is continuing, but there is no evidence that the incident was a terrorist attack among the evidence obtained so far. (AA)