German police went to the attacker’s house 1 month ago

On March 10, a shooting attack was carried out against a church belonging to Jehovah’s Witnesses in Hamburg, Germany. In the armed attack, 7 people, including an unborn baby, lost their lives and 16 were injured.

The attacker, Philipp F., committed suicide with the Heckler & Koch P30 pistol he used in the attack.

German media announced that an anonymous letter was sent to the police a month before the attack.

In the letter, Philipp F. was said to have a particular resentment towards religious people, especially Jehovah’s Witnesses. It was also stated in the letter that the attacker had mental problems but was not medically diagnosed.

THE POLICE GOES TO THE ATTACKER’S HOUSE

Following the letter received, it was reported that police teams went to the attacker’s house in February and the attacker spoke with the police in a collaborative manner.

“An anonymous report expressing concern that a person may have a mental illness is not, in itself, a basis for such measures,” Hamburg police chief Ralf Martin said.

ARMAMENT IS DISCUSSED

On the other hand, after the attack, the German public began to discuss weaponry and weapons laws.

Germany is known as one of the European countries where the strictest regulations on individual weapons apply. According to the German National Register of Firearms, 1 million people own weapons in the country, most of them hunters. After the armed attacks in the country, the laws are also updated.

In 2002, the age for obtaining a gun license was raised from 18 to 21 as a result of an armed attack on a school in the Thuringian city of Erfurt, in which 16 people were killed.

In 2020, 11 people were killed in a racist attack in the city of Hanau, in the state of Hesse.

Shooter Tobias Rathjen was diagnosed with paranoia and personality disorder in 2002, but was still able to acquire a gun. After the attack, the German government imposed psychological health checks on weaponry.