Firearms official, gun club probed over Hamburg shooting

BERLIN (AP) — German prosecutors say they are investigating an official at Hamburg’s firearms department and three members of a gun club in connection with a mass shooting at a Jehovah’s Witness hall last month. A 35-year-old German man opened fire during the March 9 service, killing six people and wounding nine, including a pregnant woman who lost her unborn child, before turning the gun on himself. Hamburg prosecutors said authorities searched the homes of an official at the city’s firearms department and of three members of the Hanseatic Gun Club that the attacker had been part of. Prosecutors said Thursday the firearms official is being investigated on suspicion of negligent homicide for failing to properly handle information about the gunman’s psychological state.