After the shooting that killed eight at a meeting of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Hamburg, an employee of the weapons authority was investigated on suspicion of negligent homicide. The man is said to have incorrectly passed on information about the mental state of the later shooter within the authority, the Attorney General said on Thursday. Three members of an examination board working in the shooting club of the later gunman were also being investigated.
The spokeswoman said that there were indications of negligent homicide in six cases against the employee of the weapons authority and negligent bodily harm in the office in 14 cases.
He is said to have neither documented nor properly forwarded information about the amok perpetrator Philipp F., which he had received from an employee of the shooting club from the family environment of the perpetrator, as the message said. He is said not to have pointed out that he himself had suggested sending a letter received by the weapons authority on January 24 as an “anonymous” report, although he knew possible authors and other backgrounds. It was, so to speak, an ordered anonymous ad, according to investigators.
Unaware of this, according to the public prosecutor’s office, the responsible department head of the weapons authority only ordered an unannounced storage check for the firearm in Phillipp F.’s possession, instead of obtaining further information and then immediately seizing the weapon and ammunition.
Initial suspicion of false certification
On Thursday, ten search warrants from the district court in Hamburg were executed. The searches concerned the residential addresses of the four suspects, the workplace of the weapon authority employee and the club’s premises.
The three members of the examination board are being investigated in the office because of the initial suspicion of false certification. The examination board had issued Philipp F. a “blank” certificate of expertise dated April 28, 2022. In fact, Phillipp F. is said to have failed the practical exam on April 28th.
The presumption of innocence applies to all accused.
On March 9, after a community meeting of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Hamburg-Alsterdorf, Philipp F. killed seven people and finally himself with a semi-automatic pistol. After an anonymous tip a few weeks before the crime, the 35-year-old had been checked by the weapons authority.
