Status: 03/22/2023 12:49 p.m
In the case of the Alsterdorf gunman, there is new information. Before the fact, Philipp F. had published a book with confused content. An anonymous tip drew the weapons authority’s attention to the plant. The police initially said they had not found it. As the NDR has learned, that is not true.
The officials entered the name Philipp F. and the term “book” on Google – and did not find the book. That’s how police chief Ralf Martin Meyer had it said at a state press conference shortly after the killing spree. Now it turned out: The latter is not true. An employee of the weapons authority had found the title of the book after the anonymous tip, but neither ordered nor downloaded it. According to the Hamburg police, the title did not particularly alarm the employee of the weapons authority.
Police: Error when questioning an employee
She explains this incident by a communication error. It came about when the employee concerned was questioned. She was asked if she knew the book. But because she hadn’t read it, she said “no”. Apparently she didn’t mention finding it.
Two reports on the perpetrator’s book
Meanwhile, two police-commissioned reports that examined the book concluded that it contained no evidence of violence. According to one of the experts, the perpetrator suffered with a high probability of a personality disorder with predominantly narcissistic components, as reported by “Zeit”. The perpetrator showed clear signs of overconfidence and megalomania and an excessive need for recognition. A second expert explained in “Spiegel” that Philipp F. had acted presumably for religious reasons. The perpetrator was a religious fanatic who felt anger at the fact that the Christian religious communities withheld the truth from believers.
Shooting spree with eight dead
On March 9, 35-year-old Philipp F. killed seven people at a community meeting of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Hamburg – including an unborn child. He then killed himself. Nine other people were injured in the shooting.
Further information
