Philipp F., 35, shot dead seven people and then himself at a Jehovah’s Witness house of worship on Thursday night. A quick special operation saved many lives. Hamburg police received a warning.
The officers were already on their way towards the end of the day when they heard the radio message. In a building on Ring 2, a thoroughfare in the Alsterdorf district of Hamburg, shots are fired. Members of the “difficult operational situation support patrol” jumped into the car. Just five minutes after the first emergency call, at 9:04 pm, they were standing on the sidewalk in front of the simple building.
It was luck in disguise on that deadly night in northern Germany: the special unit also trains how to face a sniper. If she wasn’t on duty anymore and police headquarters weren’t just around the corner, more people would probably have died. Philipp F., the gunslinger from Hamburg, had already emptied nine magazines from his semi-automatic pistol, for a total of 135 rounds. He still had 20 magazines full in his backpack. The next morning, it should be known that the police were unlucky. She may have prevented the act. Someone had warned her.