Jehovah’s Witnesses shocked by Hamburg attack, thank police

BERLIN (AP) — The Jehovah's Witnesses expressed shock Saturday over the deadly shooting at one of the group's halls in Hamburg, Germany, but thanked German authorities for preventing more bloodshed through their swift intervention during the attack.

A gunman shot dead six members of the Hamburg congregation and wounded eight others, including a woman who lost her unborn child, before killing himself late Thursday. 

The shooting drew widespread condemnation and calls for a tightening of Germany's firearms laws.

In a statement, the Jehovah's Witnesses in Germany confirmed that the man police identified as the gunman was a former member who left the church voluntarily two years ago.

“We do not know the motive for this terrible crime,” it said.

“Like the rest of the world, we were shocked and bewildered when we read (...) that the gunman reportedly bore 'particular anger' not just toward the Jehovah's Witnesses but also toward other religious groups and his former employer.”

Officials identified the shooter only as 35-year-old Philipp F., in line with German privacy laws, and said that his departure from the church was “apparently not on good terms.”

The investigation into his motives was ongoing.

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