Deaths were reported Thursday after shots were fired at a church in Hamburg, Germany, police said.
Authorities said several people were injured, some fatally, in a shooting at a church on Deelböge Street. Police have not released the number of dead and wounded.
“We only know that several people died here; several people are injured, they were taken to hospitals,» said police spokesman Holger Vehren, according to The Associated Press.
Hamburg police said early Friday that they assume there was a perpetrator. Previously, the police tweeted that a person who could be a perpetrator could be dead.
«We have found a lifeless person in a community center in #GroßBorstel, who we assume could be a perpetrator,» Hamburg police tweeted early Friday.
Police later tweeted that they were phasing out measures taken after the shooting and an investigation was underway.
Vehren said police arrived shortly after being notified of the shooting at 9:15 p.m. and heard a gunshot from the area above the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses. reported the AP.
Initially, authorities tweeted that there was a large police response in the city’s Alsterdorf district and that officials were still working on the scene.
«So far there is no reliable information on the motive for the crime,» the police tweeted then, and they asked people not to spread rumors.
Hamburg Mayor Peter Tschentscher tweeted that the police reports were «shocking» and that authorities were working to track down the perpetrator.
«My condolences to the families of the victims,» Tschentscher said.
An alert was sent through the German KATWARN system, saying the shooting happened around 9pm local time.
He urged people to avoid the area as authorities have locked down the area.
Alsterdorf is about 7 miles from the center of Hamburg, the second largest city in Germany. The Hamburg metropolitan region is home to more than 5 million people, according to the European Council.
This is a developing history. Please check for updates.