Eight people are believed to be dead after a mass shooting at a Jehovah's Witness church in the German city of Hamburg.
A gunman open fired at the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witness last night in a lone attack.
Police believe one of those found dead at the scene is the perpetrator, with no clear motive for the shootings.
"According to the current state of affairs, we assume that there is one perpetrator," police said in a message on Twitter.
"Police activities in the surrounding area are being successively discontinued. Investigations into the motives behind the crime are continuing."
Television footage showed dozens of police cars as well as fire engines blocking off streets and some people, wrapped in blankets, being led by emergency service workers into a bus.
"We heard shots," one unidentified witness told reporters.
"There were 12 continuous shots," he said. "Then we saw how people were taken away in black bags."
Police are investigating the motive of the attack
REUTERS
Police said they had received a call soon after 9pm and officers arrived at the scene to find several people seriously injured and some dead.
"Then they heard a shot from above, they went upstairs and found one further person," said a police spokesperson.
Hamburg is home to the biggest community of Jehovah's Witnesses in Germany.
The mayor of Hamburg expressed shock for Thursday's bloodshed.
Eight people have died in the attack, including the shooter
REUTERS
"I extend my deepest sympathy to the families of the victims. The forces are working at full speed to pursue the perpetrators and clarify the background," Peter Tschentscher said on Twitter.
Germany has been shaken by a number of shootings in the last few years.
In February 2020, a gunman with suspected far-right links shot dead nine people, including migrants from Turkey, in the western town of Hanau before killing himself and his mother.
In October 2019, a gunman killed two people when he opened fire outside a synagogue in the eastern city of Halle on the Jewish holy day of Yom Kippur.
