Police secured a street outside a Jehovah's Witness building in Hamburg, Germany Friday, March 10, 2023. Shots were fired inside the building used by Jehovah's Witnesses in the northern German city of Hamburg on Thursday evening, with multiple people killed and wounded, police said. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
Police secured a street outside a Jehovah's Witness building in Hamburg, Germany Friday, March 10, 2023. Shots were fired inside the building used by Jehovah's Witnesses in the northern German city of Hamburg on Thursday evening, with multiple people killed and wounded, police said. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
HAMBURG, Germany (AP) — A timeline of the shooting at a Jehovah's Witnesses hall in the German city of Hamburg on Thursday evening, according to information provided by authorities on Friday.
About 9 p.m.
— The perpetrator opens fire in the parking lot of the Kingdom Hall in the Gross Borstel district of Hamburg, firing 10 shots at a car. The woman who is driving it manages to get away with light injuries.
He then shoots through a window at people taking part in a service on the ground floor of the building before climbing in through the window while continuing to shoot.
There are 36 people present in the hall, with another 25 participating online.
9:04 p.m.
— Police and firefighters receive the first of 47 emergency calls, some of them from people inside the building, alerting them to the shooting.
9:08 p.m.
— The first police officers arrive at the scene.
9:09 p.m.
— A Hamburg police unit specially trained to deal with rampages and terror attacks, known by its acronym USE, arrives at the scene. Police say it is a “lucky coincidence†that the unit is still on duty and is nearby.
9:11 p.m.
— The unit enters the building, using firearms to break a pane of glass and open the door. They hear continuous shots as they force their way in. They find a large number of people in a room, some of them lying on the floor. The suspected perpetrator flees to the second floor.
Police reaching the second floor find a man lying on the floor with a fatal gunshot wound and a firearm next to him.
Around 20 people are rescued unhurt from the building. Authorities find nine empty magazines that can carry up to 15 bullets at the scene, as well as 20 loaded magazines in a backpack and another two on the body of the suspected gunman.
Six people are confirmed killed, while a pregnant woman loses her unborn baby.
12:30 a.m. Friday
— Authorities remain uncertain whether there are any other perpetrators after witnesses report that there may have been two shooters. Prosecutors order a search of the deceased suspect's apartment. Investigators find 15 magazines, each loaded with 15 bullets; another four boxes of ammunition with a total of 200 bullets; and laptops and smartphones.
Investigators establish that what appears to be a possible second shooter in a video of the scene is in fact the shadow of the single gunman.
