Several dead after Hamburg church shooting -police

STORY: The Bild newspaper reported that seven people were dead and eight others injured in the shooting at a Jehovah's Witness church. There were no indications that a perpetrator was on the run, Bild quoted a police spokesperson as saying.

"Several people were seriously injured, some even fatally. We are on site with a large contingent of forces," said Hamburg police on Twitter.

Broadcaster NDR quoted a police spokesperson saying that one or several unknown perpetrators shot at people in a church at about 9 p.m. local time (2000 GMT).

"The dead people all have gunshot wounds," the spokesperson was quoted as saying.

Germany's DPA news agency, citing a reporter on the scene, said that local residents in the northern Alsterdorf district of Hamburg had received warnings on their mobile phones of a "life threatening situation" and that streets had been sealed off.