Seven people killed after shots fired in German church

At least seven people have been killed and more seriously injured in a shooting in Germany.

One or more people opened fire in a church in the northern city of Hamburg this evening.

Police rushed to the scene at 9pm amid unconfirmed reports of shooters on the run.

The Hamburg city government said the shooting took place in the Gross Borstel district.

In a statement on Twitter, the force confirmed ‘there is a larger police operation in Alsterdorf’.

‘According to initial findings, a shot was fired in a church on Deelböge street in the Gross Borstel district.

‘Several people were seriously injured, some even fatally. We are on site with a large contingent of forces. Further information follows.’

Germany’s Bild newspaper said seven people had died and 25 injured – eight of them seriously – in the shooting, which it said happened in a Jehovah’s Witness centre 

Police stressed that so far, there is no ‘reliable information’ on the motive for the shooting.

‘We ask that you do not share unsecured assumptions and/or spread rumours,’ they added.

Further details on what happened were not immediately available, and the force would not confirm reports that the perpetrators were on the run.

The area is a few miles north of downtown Hamburg, the country’s second-largest city.

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