Society's Unknown Psychopaths

Heavily armed police inspect the area near a Jehovah's Witness church where several people have been killed in a shooting in Hamburg, northern Germany, on late March 9, 2023. DANIEL REINHARDT/AFP/Getty

 

"We do not know the motive for this terrible crime.[We are] deeply saddened by the horrific attack on our members at the Kingdom Hall in Hamburg after a religious service."

"Like the rest of the world, we were shocked and bewildered when we read (...) that the gunman reportedly bore `particular anger' not just toward the Jehovah's Witnesses but also toward other religious groups and his former employer."

"At the same time, our sincere thanks go to the police, who undoubtedly prevented even more deaths and injuries due to their quick intervention."

Jehovah's Witnesses, Germany 

Floral tributes and candles are placed outside the Jehovah's Witness building in Hamburg, Germany, Friday March 10, 2023, the site where several people were killed last night in a rampage during a Jehovah's Witness event. (Christian Charisius/dpa via AP)

"The anonymous person expressed the opinion in the letter that Philipp F. could be suffering from a mental illness, without, as the person wrote, this being medically diagnosed since Philipp F. would not seek medical treatment."

"Philipp F. supposedly harboured a particular anger toward religious followers especially toward Jehovah's Witnesses and his former employer."

"The entire situation also showed no indications for the officers that could have pointed to a mental illness. On the contrary, they had a further conversation with him about a variety of things, such as the furnishing of the flat and similar things, and at the end they went out and gave him a verbal warning for the minor offence."

"Even if the arms control colleagues pursued this tip-off professionally, and were personally convinced by the situation and assessment that they conducted, we must once again take a critical look at these procedures, above all the legal procedures and requirements for further measures."

Ralf Meyer head, Hamburg Police

Forensic experts worked at the scene through the night  Reuters

The gunman who fatally attacked members of the Jehovah Witnesses religious cult in Hamburg, Germany, killing four men and a pregnant woman and her baby in a violent rampage was in possession of a duly registered firearm, a semi-automatic pistol. This was a man unknown to police other than having once received an anonymous tip advising of the man's purported mental instability. Under German law sensibly, anyone with mental problems would not be given a license to own firearms.

The murderer cannot be questioned with respect to this motivation, nor tested for a mental illness. He turned his gun on himself after killing his targets at the Jehovah's Witness Hall. He was identified by police only as 35-year-old Philipp F. Officials revealed that the man had on previous occasions expressed his hatred of Jehovah's Witnesses. Once a member of the community, he had been raised in a religious family in southern Germany.

In a briefing by police and prosecutors the day following the Thursday attack, it was revealed that Philipp F. was the licensed owner of a Heckler & Koch P30 semi-automatic handgun. An amateur marksman, he reflected Germany's hunting and gun sports tradition.  Government data reveals over 940,000 registered private gun owners in the country within its population of 84 million.

Germany has 14,200 gun clubs with 1.35 million members. No links to terrorism was discovered for this man with no criminal record; information that would automatically have prevented him from legal gun ownership. The anonymous letter alleging disturbing behaviour on the part of the shooter was received in January, prompting two police officers to be tasked with an unannounced visit to his home in early February.

The police found the man to be cooperative, giving no indication of mental health problems. Police inspected his licence and checked to see that his weapon and ammunition were stored properly. While they were properly stored, a single projectile was found to be laid on top of the gun safe. A verbal warning was issued about the projectile and he apologized, placing the object in the safe.

Following a number of attacks in recent years, most recently after authorities uncovered the presence of an extremist network plotting an armed coup late last year, the government was pressured to tighten firearm ownership rules. Among tighter rules to be proposed is one whereby a psychological suitability test would be mandatory for prospective licence holders.

Germans aged 18 and over with no criminal history are able to obtain a permit to own a gun at the present time if they fullfil certain legal requirements regulating safe storage, and psychologically fit gun purchaser. Spot checks are undertaken on gun owners ensuring they adhere to requirements. All these and other safeguards cannot predict the direction that onetime sound-minded people will take under circumstances leading to a severe mental psychosis.

Which is when all restraints and inhibitions against lethal violence fray under the weight of a mind consumed by unreasoning hatred. That the man committed such an odious offence and in so doing had consigned himself to a future of incarceration as a dangerous offender that society must be protected against, he took immediate steps to relieve the justice system of an investigation, trial and costly lifetime imprisonment. His choice of self-administered punishment.

A body is removed from the Jehovah's Witness Kingdom Hall in Hamburg, Germany, March 10, 2023, after a shooting left eight people dead, including an unborn baby and the gunman, police said. Markus Schreiber/AP