Shooting Suspect Was Unable to Get Past Synagogue's Doors

Twitch says livestreamed Germany attack had more than 2K viewers
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 10, 2019 6:15 AM CDT
Synagogue Attack Was Livestreamed for 35 Minutes
Bullet holes in the entrance door of a synagogue are pictured in Halle, Germany, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2019.   (AP Photo/Jens Meyer)

An attack that killed two people near a synagogue in eastern Germany Wednesday was livestreamed and watched by more than 2,000 people, streaming site Twitch has confirmed. The site says its "investigation suggests that people were coordinating and sharing the video via other online messaging services," the BBC reports. In the 35-minute video, the suspect, speaking in English, declares himself to be an anti-feminist, an anti-Semite, and a Holocaust denier, the Guardian reports. The footage shows the suspect trying to force his way into the Halle synagogue, shooting at the lock and trying to break the doors down before giving up and shooting two other people. He calls himself a "loser" as his apparently homemade weapons malfunction repeatedly. Police say the suspect killed a woman in the street and another person in a nearby kebab shop.

There were around 70 to 80 people, including an estimated 10 American citizens, celebrating Yom Kippur in the synagogue at the time. Worshipers say it took more than 10 minutes for police to arrive. The suspect, identified by German media as 27-year-old German man "Stephan B", was arrested after the attack. Analysts say the livestreaming and posting of a racist manifesto online before the attack has chilling echoes of the mosque attacks in Christchurch, New Zealand, earlier this year, the AP reports. Twitch says the footage was removed from its site and anybody reposting the "abhorrent" material will be banned. Police have not said whether they are seeking additional suspects, reports CBS. (More Germany stories.)

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