Hamburg Jehovah's Witnesses in shock after mass shooting

In a brightly lit hallway connected an concern estate, rows of bare chairs are arranged successful beforehand of a plain woody lectern.

Hamburg's Jehovah's Witnesses person cancelled each services aft Thursday's deadly shooting, successful different gathering hallway successful the city, claimed 7 lives, including that of an unborn child.

The onslaught took spot soon aft worshippers finished their service. Police person told them that they cannot regularisation retired the anticipation of a alleged copycat attack, says Michael Tsifidaris, who speaks for the assemblage here.

He's smartly dressed successful a concern suit, but looks exhausted. It's wide that he's inactive profoundly shaken. Two of his friends were killed successful the attack.

He tells america helium spent Thursday nighttime with survivors successful hospital, and astatine the constabulary station. But helium besides comforted relatives arsenic they waited successful a hastily arranged exigency centre for quality of their loved ones.

"It's hard to ideate - a radical of radical are sitting unneurotic during an evening successful the church, speechmaking the Bible, singing, praying together. Then they walk a mates of minutes unneurotic to speech to each different aft the meeting, Then, each of a sudden, a country of emotion becomes a country of hatred and death."

The information that the slayer was a erstwhile subordinate of the Jehovah's Witness assemblage present makes the calamity peculiarly hard to bear.

There are astir 4,000 Jehovah's Witnesses successful and astir Hamburg. The assemblage is divided into smaller congregations, each with their ain gathering place, known arsenic a Kingdom Hall.

Detectives investigating the mass shooting person said the slayer near the Jehovah's Witnesses connected presumption which were "not good".

Mr Tsifidaris says helium doesn't cognize wherefore the antheral left, didn't cognize him personally, and appears reluctant to speech astir him.

Those who permission the Jehovah's Witnesses are often "disassociated" oregon chopped disconnected by astir members of the community; a signifier sometimes referred to arsenic "shunning".

The constabulary person revealed they precocious received an anonymous letter, wherever the writer warned the attacker had a gun, was mentally unstable and harboured choler against spiritual groups, including the Jehovah's Witnesses.

"He near the assemblage 2 years agone and now, each of a sudden, he's showing up and is acting against each the principles we basal for," says Mr Tsifidaris.

"What we cognize is that successful the spiritual context, determination is simply a assemblage helium knows, determination is simply a assemblage helium was portion of, truthful this is simply a assemblage helium focused his hatred on. He knew the premises, helium knew the arrangements."

For now, the assemblage is gathering online. Mr Tsifidaris, who refers to his chap members arsenic brothers and sisters, speaks often of the comfortableness to beryllium recovered successful supporting 1 another. "We commune together, we outcry together."

Uppermost successful their thoughts are those who stay earnestly injured successful hospital. He's adamant that their attraction is not compromised by a refusal to judge humor transfusions - Jehovah's Witnesses judge that God forbids this.

They are not yet retired of danger, helium tells us, but the doctors accidental there's a just accidental astir volition survive.

For now, the absorption is connected supporting the bereaved and the traumatised. No one, helium says, is near unsocial successful their grief.

This onslaught has near a metropolis successful mourning and a assemblage successful daze and horror. It will, says Mr Tsifidaris, instrumentality years to heal.