International Desk: At least 8 people have been killed and some seriously injured in a shooting in the northern German city of Hamburg, police say.

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The incident occurred at a Jehovah’s Witnesses centre at about 9pm local time on Thursday night.

The gunman is a former member of the religious community, aged between 30 and 40, Der Spiegel magazine reports.

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The victims are yet to be identified, and work at the crime scene continues.

Police say they found a dead person at the scene who they believe may have been the perpetrator and investigations are continuing.

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"The officers also heard a shot from the upper part of the building and went upstairs, where they also found a person. So far we have no indications that any perpetrators fled."

Gregor Miesbach, who filmed the gunman shooting through a first-floor window, told the Bild newspaper: "I heard loud gunshots, went to the window to get a picture of the situation. I saw a man with a firearm shooting through a window and filmed it."

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Lara Bauch, a student who lives nearby, told "there were about four bursts of gunfire - several shots were fired in each burst - with gaps lasting roughly 20 seconds to a minute".

Hamburg's Interior Minister Andy Grote said on Twitter that police special forces and a large number of officers had been deployed to the scene.

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German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has said his thoughts were with the victims of the shooting in Hamburg.

“Several members of a Jehovah community fell victim to a brutal act of violence last night,” Scholz tweeted. “My thoughts are with them and their loved ones.”

Sun News/MR

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