Hamburg Gunman Was Ex-member of Jehovah’s Witnesses – Police

A gunman who stormed a Jehovah’s Witnesses centre in the German city of Hamburg killing at least 8 persons before killing himself has been identified as a former member.

AFP reported that the gunman killed himself after police stormed the building, a local official said Friday.

The attacker fled to the first floor of the building after police burst in “and killed himself,” said regional interior minister Andy Grote, adding that the rapid police deployment likely “saved many lives.”

A woman who was seven months pregnant was among those killed, he added.

Eight people had been killed in the shooting at a Jehovah’s Witness centre in Hamburg, with the gunman among the dead.

The shooting also left eight people seriously injured.

The first emergency calls were made around 2015 GMT after shots rang out at the building in the city’s northern district of Gross Borstel, a police spokesman at the scene said.

Police tweeted that “several people were seriously injured, some even fatally” in the incident.

“At the moment there is no reliable information on the motive of the crime,” police said, urging people not to speculate.

However police have now said that there was “no indication of terrorist motive” in the Hamburg shooting