Hamburg shooting: Several killed at Jehovah's Witnesses hall

Local media are reporting at least six people have been killed in a shooting at a church in Hamburg. ITV News reporter Geraint Vincent has the latest

Six people have been killed in a shooting in the northern German city of Hamburg, according to local media reports.

According to Hamburg police, a shot was fired in a hall used by Jehovah's Witnesses in the Grob Borstel district of the city on Thursday evening, killing an unconfirmed number of people and leaving several more seriously injured.

Police said they were alerted to the shooting about 9.15pm, and were on the scene quickly. They said that after officers arrived, they heard a shot from an upper floor.

The police statement said there was no immediate indication that a shooter was on the run and that it appeared likely that the perpetrator or perpetrators were either in the building or among the dead.

Armed police officers at the hall where several were killed and injured on Thursday evening. Credit: AP

On Twitter, local police urged the public not to share speculation.

“We only know that several people died here; several people are wounded, they were taken to hospitals,” police spokesman Holger Vehren said, adding that he had no information on the severity of the injuries.

Local media footage showed a large police presence outside the Jehovah's Witnesses' Kingdom Hall, a three-story building.

Vehren said police were alerted to the shooting about 9.15 pm and were on the scene quickly.

He said that after officers arrived, they heard a shot from an upper floor and found a person upstairs who may have been a shooter.

Officers did not have to use their firearms, he added.

Police said the three-storey building at the centre of the shooting is used by Jehovah's Witnesses.

Vehren said there was no immediate indication that a shooter was on the run and that it appeared likely that the perpetrator or perpetrators were either in the building or among the dead.

Police had no information on the event that was underway in the building when the shooting took place, or any immediate information on a possible motive, Vehren said, adding that “the background is still completely unclear.”

Hamburg Mayor Peter Tschentscher tweeted that the news was “shocking” and offered his sympathy to the victims' relatives.

Jehovah’s Witnesses are part of an international church, founded in the United States in the 19th century and headquartered in Warwick, New York.

It claims a worldwide membership of about 8.7 million, with about 170,000 in Germany.