At least seven people have been killed and others injured during a shooting at a Jehovah’s Witness centre in Hamburg, Germany.
Police say they found a dead person at the scene who they believe may have been the gunman but it is unclear if the perpetrator is among the seven casualties.
According to Deutsche Welle (DW), Holger Vehren, the police spokesperson, said it is likely that the perpetrator was either in the building or among the dead
Two witnesses said they heard 12 gunshots roughly at intervals of 20 seconds to a minute.
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“There is no reliable information on the motive”, Vehren said.
“All we know is that several people have died here, several people have been injured, they have been taken to hospitals.”
Residents living nearby were initially warned not to leave their homes amid the ongoing police operation, but they were later told there was no longer a threat in the area.
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Jehovah’s Witnesses are members of a Christian-based religious movement.
During the Nazi regime, they were persecuted because of their political neutrality but were later granted legal status in Germany as a major religion in 2017.
The denomination was founded in the United States towards the end of the 19th century, under the leadership of Charles Taze Russell.
The headquarters of the movement is in New York.
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