Relationship to community possible motive for killing spree among Jehovah's Witnesses

After the attack on Jehovah's Witnesses in Hamburg, a trend can be seen when asked about the motive for Interior Senator Andy Grote (SPD). "At the moment everything indicates that the motive lies in the relationship between this community of Jehovah's Witnesses and the perpetrator as a former member of this community," Grote told the Hamburger Abendblatt.

In the act on Thursday evening in Hamburg-Alsterdorf, 35-year-old Philipp F. shot seven people, including an unborn child, then himself. The shots injured eight other people. Four of them were still in mortal danger. "We remain extremely concerned for several of the injured who sustained serious gunshot wounds and remain in critical condition," Grote said.

Four days after the shooting on the premises of Jehovah's Witnesses in Hamburg, the investigation continues. The perpetrator had fired more than 100 times with a semi-automatic pistol. Hamburg's police chief Ralf Martin Meyer said at a press conference that he had been in legal possession of this weapon since December 12. According to information from security circles, the shooter was not known to be an extremist.

Philipp F. was a former member of the Hamburg community of Jehovah's Witnesses, which he left voluntarily a year and a half ago, but apparently not on good terms, as the police, prosecutors and interior authorities said on Friday.

The 35-year-old was a sports shooter, had a gun license and had only recently been visited by the weapons authority. In January, the authorities received an anonymous tip about a possible mental illness from Philipp F. He was therefore visited unannounced in early February by two officers from the Weapons Authority.

At that time there were no relevant complaints, the legal options had been exhausted, said Meyer. The overall circumstances would not have given the officials any clues "that could have indicated a mental illness". At this point, Philipp F. disappeared from the authorities' radar again, until last Thursday's act of violence, which Grote later described as "the worst crime in our city's recent history."

After the shooting, the left demanded clarification from the Senate. The Senate must fully enlighten the interior committee on open questions relating to the killing spree, said Deniz Celik, spokesman for domestic policy for the left-wing faction in the Hamburg Parliament, on Sunday. "According to the latest findings, the question of whether the killing spree could have been prevented must be asked again. The crude theses presented on the website and in the book paint a picture of a confused, religious extremist," said Celik.

The shooting has meanwhile brought the ongoing political discussion about stricter gun laws back into focus. After the crime, Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) announced that she wanted to review the draft amendment to the Weapons Act. The deputy FDP party leader Wolfgang Kubicki told the WELT television station: “The natural reaction of initially wanting to ban everything is forbidden. That's a humanly understandable reaction, but it doesn't help when in doubt."

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