Jehovah’s Witnesses mourn victims of Hamburg mass shooting

A 35-year-old German man opened fire during a religious service on March 9, killing 6 people and wounding 9. He killed himself as police arrived at the scene

Officials said the suspected assailant had left the Hamburg congregation ‘voluntarily, but apparently not on good terms,’ about a year and a half ago

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Mourners in Hamburg, Germany attend a memorial service on Saturday for the victims of the March 9 Jehovah’s Witnesses rampage in the Alsterdorf sports hall. Photo: dpa

Published: 2:31am, 26 Mar 2023Updated: 2:32am, 26 Mar 2023

Members of the Jehovah’s Witnesses in Germany held a memorial service on Saturday for the six people, including an unborn baby, killed during a mass shooting at a religious service in Hamburg this month.

A 35-year-old German man, named only as Phillip F, opened fire during the March 9 service killed himself as police arrived at a Jehovah’s Witnesses hall where the service was taking place. The attack wounded nine people, including a pregnant woman who lost her unborn child.

“We are speechless in the face of the violence and brutality. There’s no word for this,” Dirk Ciupek, a member of the Jehovah’s Witnesses, said in his sermon. “This was an attack not just on a few of us, but an attack on all of us.”

Members of a Jehovah’s Witnesses community hold a placard reading “Never alone!” before a memorial service at the Alsterdorf Sports Hall on Saturday for the victims of a March 9 shooting in Hamburg, Germany. Photo: EPA-EFE

Ciupek expressed gratitude to the police officers who he said prevented more deaths and to the medical staff who tended to the wounded with dedication and empathy.

“Do not let evil defeat you,” he said, addressing the family members of those who died. He spoke about each victim individually, including the unborn baby.

“We miss them, their love, their smiles, everything,” Ciupek said.

All of the victims were German citizens apart from two wounded women, one with Ugandan citizenship and one with Ukrainian.

Officials said the suspected assailant was a 35-year-old German man identified only as Philipp F, in line with the country’s privacy rules. Police said he had left the Hamburg congregation “voluntarily, but apparently not on good terms,” about a year and a half ago.