Hamburg shooting: Police were tipped off about gunman’s mental health weeks before attack
Police officers at the scene of a shooting in Hamburg, northern Germany.
The gunman who went on a shooting rampage in Hamburg, Germany, killing seven people and injuring several others before turning the gun on himself, was visited by the police weeks before after they received a tip-off which raised concerns about the man's mental health.
The police said that the man co-operated with them and that they did not have enough grounds to seize the gun at the time. The 35-year-old suspected gunman, Philipp F, had been issued a licence to own a gun for sporting purposes.
A new law is being prepared by the government which will have tighter curbs on ownership of the gun, said the interior minister.
ALSO READ | Hamburg church shooting leaves 8 dead, including unborn child
Seven people, which included an unborn baby, were killed by the gunman in the attack which took place at a Jehovah's Witness meeting hall in the city.
The first emergency call was received at 21:04 local time (20:04 GMT) to report that gunshots were fired and the police officers reached the site four minutes later.
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A video later appeared in which the gunman was seen firing through a window. He then entered the building where many people had gathered and fired nine magazines of ammunition before he apparently turned the gun on himself.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that there can be a rise in the death toll. German Senator Andy Grote said that many lives were saved by police officers' "fast and decisive actions". He added that the attack was the "worst crime" in the recent history of Hamburg.
Hamburg Police Chief Ralf Martin Meyer on Friday said that the police officers had visited the man in February after an anonymous letter was sent to them claiming that he "bore particular anger toward religious believers, in particular toward Jehovah's Witnesses".
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The letter also stated that he "might be suffering from a mental illness, although it had not been medically diagnosed".
Police stated that the man was co-operative and held an open conversation with the officers. "The bottom line is that an anonymous tip in which someone says they're worried a person might have a psychological illness, isn't in itself a basis for (such) measures," said Chief Meyer.
(With inputs from agencies)
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