Multiple dead in Jehovah's Witness hall shooting in Germany
Berlin (AP): "We only know that several people died here; several people are wounded, they were taken to hospitals," police spokesman Holger Vehren said of the shooting in the Gross Borstel district of Germany's second-biggest city.
He said he had no information on the severity of the injuries suffered by the wounded. Police did not confirm German media reports, which named no sources, of six or seven dead.
In a Twitter update in the early hours Friday Hamburg police said they believed there was only one shooter, and they were gradually rolling back security forces from the area.
"The investigation into the motive behind the crime continues," police said.
The scene of the shooting was the Jehovah's Witnesses' Kingdom Hall, a modern and boxy three-story building next door to an auto repair shop.
Vehren said police were alerted to the shooting about 9:15 p.m. and were on the scene quickly.
He said that after officers arrived and found people with apparent gunshot wounds on the ground floor, they heard a shot from an upper floor and found a fatally wounded person upstairs who may have been a shooter. He said police did not have to use their firearms.
Vehren said there was no indication that a shooter was on the run and that it appeared likely that the perpetrator was either in the building or among the dead.
Student Laura Bauch, who lives nearby, said "there were about four periods of shooting," German news agency dpa reported. "There were always several shots in these periods, roughly at intervals of 20 seconds to a minute," she said.
She said she looked out her window and saw a person running from the ground floor to the second floor of the Jehovah's Witnesses hall.
Gregor Miesbach, who lives within sight of the building, was alerted by the sound of shots and filmed a figure entering the building through a window. Shots can then be heard from inside. The figure later apparently emerges from the hall, is seen in the courtyard and then fires more shots inside.
Miesbach told German television news agency NonstopNews that he heard at least 25 shots. After police arrived, one last shot followed about five minutes later, he said.
Police had no information on the event that was under way in the building when the shooting took place.
They also had no immediate information on a possible motive. Vehren said 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.
Members are known for their evangelistic efforts that include knocking on doors and distributing literature in public squares. The denomination's distinctive practices include a refusal to bear arms, receive blood transfusions, salute a national flag or participate in secular government.
📝🇩🇪Germany: #Hamburg, #Germany. Several people have been killed in a shooting in a Jehovah's Witnesses church in Hamburg, with the gunman believed to be among the dead found in the building, German police said. at least 7 people were killed And 24 people were injured pic.twitter.com/teCZoDpVc4
— 🌐World News 24 🌍🌎🌏 (@DailyWorld24) March 10, 2023
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Hemant Soren to take oath as 14th CM of Jharkhand on Thursday
Ranchi (PTI): Hemant Soren is set to take oath as the 14th chief minister of Jharkhand in a grand ceremony here on Thursday, which will be attended by several top political leaders, including AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge, Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
Governor Santosh Kumar Gangwar will administer the oath of office and secrecy to Soren at 4 pm.
This will be the 49-year-old JMM leader's fourth stint as chief minister.
Soren retained the Barhait seat, defeating BJP's Gamliyel Hembrom by a margin of 39,791 votes in the recent assembly polls. The JMM-led alliance stormed to victory, securing 56 seats in the 81-member assembly, while the BJP-led NDA managed 24 seats.
Posters for the event can be seen across the city, while security has been strengthened and traffic regulations put in place.
Schools in Ranchi city are shut on Thursday in view of the swearing in of the Hemant Soren government.
Jharkhand in-charge and Congress general secretary Ghulam Ahmad Mir said Soren is likely to take oath alone, and expansion of the cabinet will be held after a vote of confidence in the assembly.
Other senior political leaders likely to be in attendance are NCP chief Sharad Pawar, Meghalaya CM Conrad Sangma, Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann and Himachal Pradesh CM Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, a JMM leader said.
CPI(ML)L general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackeray, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, PDP leader Mehbooba Mufti and Bihar’s Leader of Opposition Tejashwi Yadav are also likely to attend the oath-taking ceremony.
"It’s heartening to have such esteemed leaders join us for this important occasion," said Soren, who along with senior officials paid a visit to the Morabadi ground on Wednesday evening to take stock of the arrangements.
