The man reportedly said his son heard voices and had suicidal thoughts, according to a recent police report. Changes in character had been noticeable for years. But no help came.
The father of Hamburg amok shooter Philipp F. contacted the authorities in 2021 because of his son’s mental problems. The man called the social psychiatric service and said that his son heard voices and wanted to kill himself, said the head of the Hamburg State Criminal Police Office, Jan Hieber, on Thursday before the Citizens’ Committee on the Interior. After a conversation with the son, however, no further measures were found necessary at the time.
As early as 2019, the environment of the later perpetrator noticed a change in character in Philipp F. after he ended his relationship and lost his job, said Hieber. He then contacted doctors himself “to get his psychological problems under control” and had meanwhile also been in inpatient treatment in Bavaria.
When Philipp F. announced in 2021 that he wanted to heal himself, the father decided to involve the authorities. The 35-year-old killed seven people and finally himself on March 9 at a community meeting of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Alsterdorf.