An unborn baby was tragically among those killed in a brutal shooting in Hamburg last night as its mother was hit by bullets in the womb.
Eight people have died, including the killer, and more are seriously injured after a mass shooting in a Jehovah's Witness church.
Member of Bundesrat for Hamburg Andy Grote told a press conference the tragic news today: "Amongst the dead, there is also an unborn child, seven months, that was hit in the mother's womb."
There was no word on a possible motive for Thursday night's attack, which Chancellor Olaf Scholz, a former Hamburg mayor, described as “a brutal act of violence.”
The killer is 35-year-old Philipp F who works in the business centre.
Thomas Radszuweit, a Hamburg security official, said the suspected shooter was not previously known to authorities and there was no previous case against him.
Hamburg police chief Ralf Martin Meyer said the suspected shooter had a weapons license and legally owned a semi-automatic pistol.
According to the German magazine Spiegel, the suspect was a former member of the congregation that had gathered for a Bible study meeting at the centre.
There has been no more information on the identification of the further seven victims.
Matthias Tresp, Head of Protective Police, added that a "large-scale operation" was carried out to respond to the attack on the religious building, which is used by Jehovah's Witnesses.
A spokesperson for German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Christiane Hoffmann, referred to it as a “shooting rampage” rather than a suspected terrorist attack.
She said: "The suspected perpetrator shot at several people during an event held by the congregation. Our thoughts in these difficult hours are with the relatives, families and friends of the victims and with those who were wounded by this act. We wish the wounded a swift recovery.”
The head of Germany's GdP police union in Hamburg, Horst Niens, said he was convinced that the swift arrival of a special operations unit “distracted the perpetrator and may have prevented further victims.”
