The German gunman who killed seven people inside a Jehovah’s Witness centre had committed the crime because he loathed Christian religious communities, an expert has claimed.
Philipp Fusz, aged 35, shot seven people dead inside the Kingdom Hall in the Alsterdorf quarter, in the city of Hamburg, Germany, at 9.04pm on Thursday, 9th March.
The ex-Jehovah’s Witness and self-styled business coach then turned his legally-owned Heckler & Koch P30 semi-automatic handgun on himself.
Authorities have since struggled to determine the reason for the mass murder and have so far ruled out terrorist or political motives.
But a new analysis by extremism expert Peter Neumann has now suggested that Fusz had most probably attacked out of “hatred of Christian religious communities”.
Neumann reportedly analysed Fusz’s theological book named ‘The Truth About God, Jesus Christ and Satan’ in which he reportedly justified mass murder.
The book, in which Fusz claimed that murder was acceptable in the eyes of God, was published on Amazon by the killer himself in December 2022.
Its official description on the website suggested that it was “a book which will change your view of the world and will be a new standard book next to the Bible and Koran, a book which will be also valid in 100 years’ time!”
In an interview with German newspaper ‘Der Spiegel’, Neumann claimed that examinations of the 306-page-long book revealed that the shooter was in fact a “religious fanatic”.
The expert stated that Fusz had reportedly felt angry at Christian religious communities because, in his opinion, they withheld “the truth” from true believers.
In the book, Fusz not only said that homosexuals and women should be deprived of basic human rights, he also praised Russian President Vladimir Putin.
He also described the rape of Ukrainian women as “divine punishment”.
Fusz said that the Holocaust was a “heavenly act” and compared Adolf Hitler to Jesus Crist.
But according to Neumann’s 11-page report, it could not be determined whether Fusz was an anti-Semite as no statements in the book could be interpreted as “group-related enmity or biological racism”.
He furthermore did not state whether the killer had any right-wing extremist sentiments or misogynist motives.
Jehovah’s Witnesses in Germany have organised a commemoration event of the shooting victims in the sports hall in the Winterhude quarter, in Hamburg, at 3pm on Saturday, 25th March.
Jehovah’s Witnesses spokesperson Michael Tsifidaris said: “The event will consist of two parts.
“In the first part of the event, we will experience the religious part in the form of a service.
“A commemorative speech will be held.
“And then the representatives of the city and state will have the opportunity to address the relatives.”
Seven people were killed and eight were badly injured, four critically, in the attack.
Among the gunman’s victims were a pregnant mother and her unborn child.
The adult victims were four men and two women aged 33 to 60.
