Hamburg, 10 March 2023 (dpa/MIA) - Eight people were killed, "apparently" including the suspected perpetrator, in the shooting at a Jehovah's Witnesses event in the northern city of Hamburg, German police confirmed on Friday morning.

Police investigators are still gathering evidence at the crime scene after the rampage on Thursday evening in the northern Groß Borstel district of the city.

The operation was ongoing and "everything is in flux," said a police spokesperson.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz condemned the shooting as a "brutal act of violence."

"My thoughts are with [the victims] and their families. And with the security forces who have faced a difficult operation," the German chancellor wrote on Twitter on Friday morning.

A police press conference has been scheduled for Friday at around midday (1100 GMT).