Rampage at Jehovah’s Witnesses: suspicion against officials

The Hamburg public prosecutor’s office is investigating an employee of the Hamburg firearms authority after the murder of Jehovah’s Witnesses. There is a presumption of negligent homicide in six cases and negligent bodily harm in the office in 14 cases because the perpetrator’s gun possession was not checked.

As a result, the responsible head of department would only have ordered a check on Philipp F. “instead of obtaining further information and then immediately (…) securing the firearm and ammunition,” the prosecutor writes. Three members of an examination committee of the Hanseatic Gun Club, in which F. was active, are also under investigation for false certificates.

The court executes ten search warrants

The court of Hamburg executed ten search warrants on Thursday. According to a statement from the Hamburg public prosecutor, the searches related to the residential addresses of the four suspects, the workplace of the employee of the weapons authority and the rooms of the Hanseatic Gun Club.

There is “sufficient factual evidence” against the gun authority officer for suspicion of negligent homicide in six cases and negligent bodily harm in the office in 14 cases, it is said. He would not have documented information about Philipp F., which he had received from an employee of the Hanseatic Gun Club from F.’s family circle, nor properly forwarded it within the gun authority.

Head of department only orders storage check

“In particular, he failed to point out that he had suggested an ‘anonymous’ letter that the Weapons Authority received on January 24, 2023 and initially processed there as a form of notification and knew of possible authors and other backgrounds to the letter.” he told the prosecutor.

In this ignorance, the responsible department head of the weapons authority merely ordered an unannounced storage check of Philipp F.’s firearm instead of securing the weapon and ammunition.

Three members of the examination board are interrogated at the office because of the initial suspicion of fake diplomas. The Board of Examiners had issued Philipp F. a “blank” declaration of expertise on April 28, 2022. But in fact, F. would not have passed the practical exam on April 28, 2022.

A regular re-registration for the exam and the exam itself did not take place. Instead, on October 24, 2022, a member of the board of examiners allegedly conducted a “re-examination” at the Hanseatic Gun Club that was reportedly successful, which was then documented with the April 28, 2022 certificate of expertise to the gun authority.

Based on this, Philipp F. would probably not have received a gun possession card in December 2022 and would therefore not have owned a gun or ammunition. The suspects are accused of having issued incorrect expertise certificates not only for Philipp F., but in several cases and thus concealing the execution of an irregular inspection for the weapons authority.

(t-online, jse)