Shooting at Jehovah's Witnesses centre: 7 incidents of gun rage that rocked Germany in last decade
By Sunita Iyer | First Published Mar 10, 2023, 2:27 PM ISTA gunman, believed to be acting alone, killed at least seven people in a Jehovah's Witnesses centre in Hamburg, Germany, on Thursday.
Several mass shooting incidents in the last decade have rocked Germany, sparking major concern among its citizens. Unlike the United States, incidents of gun rage are rarer in the Western European nation.
Here's a look at 7 incidents of shootings that have rocked Germany since 2013:
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9 March 2023: Jehvah's Witnesses' Kingdom Hall' in Hamburg
Seven people were killed during a mass shooting at a Jehovah's Witnesses centre in Hamburg in what Germany's leader denounced as a "brutal act of violence." The alleged perpetrator was also killed in the incident, which left over 20 people injured. There is "no confirmed information on the motive for the crime," German police said on Twitter.
Also read: Hamburg shooting: What you must know about Jehovah's Witness, its history and beliefs
24 January 2022: Heidelberg University shooting
At Heidelberg University in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, an 18-year-old male student named Nikolai G. opened fire during a lecture, killing one person and injuring three others. The shooter then ran away from the scene and eventually killed himself. The Winnenden school shooting in March 2009 was the nation's first shooting that resulted in fatalities.
24 January 2020: Rot am See shooting
Six people were killed and two others were injured in a shooting spree in Rot am See, Germany. One suspect, 26-year-old Adrian Schurr, who reported himself to the police, was apprehended.
19 February 2020: Hanau shootings
In the Hanau shootings, a schizophrenic far-right fanatic attacked a shisha establishment, a bar, and a kiosk in Hanau, Hesse, leaving eleven people dead and five others injured. The shooter returned to his apartment after the attacks, where he killed his mother before killing himself. The German Ministry of Interior Affairs described the massacre as a terrorist act.
9 October 2019: Halle synagogue shooting
27-year-old neo-Nazi Stephan Balliet shot and killed two people and wounded three in Halle, Saxony-Anhalt, before being apprehended by police. He was charged with two counts of murder and seven counts of attempted murder. Balliet admitted to the charges on 10 November before a Federal Court of Justice investigating judge. He was given a life sentence on 21 December 2020, followed by preventive detention.
22 July 2016: Munich shooting
On 22 July 2016, a mass shooting occurred outside the Olympia retail centre in Munich, Germany's Moosach neighbourhood. David Sonboly, an 18-year-old Iranian-German, started shooting at other teens inside a McDonald's before turning his gun on onlookers in the street outside and then inside the mall. Sixteen individuals were hurt, four by gunshot, and nine were killed. Sonboly then spent more than two hours hiding nearby before confronting law enforcement and shooting himself.
20 August 2013: Dossenheim shooting
A 71-year-old man shot and killed two people and wounded five before committing suicide in Dossenheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany. A shooting club member, he went on a rampage following an argument about utility bills. He opened fire during a meeting of property owners in a restaurant attached to a sports club in the town.
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