The father of Hamburg amok shooter Philipp F. contacted the authorities in 2021 because of his son’s mental problems. The father called the social psychiatric service and said that his son heard voices and wanted to kill himself, said the head of the Hamburg State Criminal Police Office, Jan Hieber, on Thursday before the Citizens’ Committee on the Interior. After a conversation with the son, however, no further measures were found necessary.
As early as 2019, the environment of the later perpetrator noticed a change in character in Philipp F. after he ended his relationship and lost his job, said Hieber. He then contacted doctors himself “to get his psychological problems under control” and had meanwhile also been in inpatient treatment in Bavaria.
When Philipp F. announced in 2021 that he wanted to heal himself, the father decided to involve the authorities, according to Hieber. There was also an anonymous whistleblower who wanted to use a book written by Philipp F. to prove his mental disorder.
Police chief Hans Martin Meyer said before the interior committee that even if this book had been evaluated by the weapons authority, the crime could not have been prevented. Because even if one had come to the conclusion to request a psychological report, the 35-year-old could not have been immediately deprived of his weapon, according to Meyer.
The review of the sports shooter Philipp F. corresponded to the standard, said Interior Senator Andy Grote (SPD). “With today’s knowledge: That wasn’t enough. … That’s why we have to make sure that such information is dealt with even more comprehensively in the future.” He again called for the gun laws to be tightened. “It’s too easy for people with mental illness to get a gun,” the senator said.
On March 9, 35-year-old Philipp F. killed seven people and finally himself at a community meeting of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Alsterdorf.
