Before I begin on this analysis, it's worth noting that there are only two dead, and two wounded in this episode. It is a mass attack by FBI standards (four or more). But on various levels, this guy's attack was stopped or hindered.
1. Who is this Stephen B. character (the shooter)?
A local guy, mid-20s, who hasn't much of a record but was noted for right-wing beliefs. He wasn't the criminal-type, an immigrant, and generally wasn't considered 'crazy'. He does speak English and one journalist had spoken to someone who knew him....saying he was not stupid.
2. Motivation?
He's a pure-up manifesto-guy. He believes that through an act, you can bait the government and society to take steps, which anger the public enough to trigger a revolution. Yes, like the guy in Christchurch, or Norway's mass shooter Anders Behring Breivik....he's got an agenda in his mind.
This guy also believes that the holocaust never occurred, that Jews still control Germany today, and that the migration business is destroying Germany.
Update: (Thur morning). Cops now hint that they've found this guy's own personal manifesto. Odds of it becoming public? I'd say virtually zero. It'll be flipped to highly classified and stored in some secret vault.
3. Gun used?
I watched the video-clip of the guy on the street, and it's obviously a military-looking shotgun. It's NOT an assault rifle as many German journalists spoke about. It does have a ammo-clip to feed the shotgun shells.
But if you watch the video clip, he's got some kind of problem in the feeding process, and has to manually clear each shell. Either he's rarely used it, or it's poorly maintained.
Desire for mass causalities? With a shotgun? Really? I just can't think of any mass shooting with the use of a shotgun.
4. Video-feed of the act?
Yep, he actually taped the whole act, with commentary as he walked along, and then sent the clip direct to social media. He wanted everyone to see the act.
5. Attack at the synagogue?
The Jewish synagogue had some guy who was assigned door duty, and once the shoots were heard....he bolted the door. If you've ever been to most churches in Germany, they have the extremely thick doors....so his shots against the door (particularly with a shotgun) weren't going to do the trick. Had he made it inside, there were estimated to be a minimum of seventy people, and more deaths would have occurred.
The first victim? A gal outside and near the Jewish cemetery, shot in the back by the attacker. A second person would have been shot at that point, but the shotgun jammed (this is a recurring issue with this choice of weapon).
6. Attackers (plural)?
Various reports suggested this in the first hour. No, there were not any extra attackers.
7. Hyped-up Germany?
N-TV and N-24 both went to live feeds and discussed the situation as it was unfolding. Heavy criticism was dumped on both for sensationalizing the attack, and some Germans felt that nothing should have been said until the 8 PM nightly news segment. I know....rather silly, but this is the modern-day German culture who frowns on the active news business.
Virtually every single political figure out of Berlin had some comment to make after the event, and rushed to journalists to hype their feelings, agenda, or 'blame'.
8. Lack of police protection?
One of the hyped-up frustrations seen....revolves around zero police at the Jewish Synagogue. With the Jewish holiday going on, crowds would have been in attendance. Some vented feelings go to the thought that at least one policeman should have been present. They may have a point, but you only have x-number of police in Germany to start with.
9. Feminism leading to fewer births?
One of the blame ideas that this guy discussed is feminism....which he says that lower births came to be one of Germany's big social problems today.
So to the facts. In 2018, the rate for German women was 1.43 kids. For non-German women in Germany....it was 2.0-range. Recent trend? No, this trend was starting in the early 1900s when birth control information was flooded out into the general public.
As you got into the late 1940s, German women had more opportunities in the work-place. Already by the late 1960s, the government knew that the rate was slipping and trying various ways to resolve the trend. None of the 'tricks' have worked.
Blaming feminism alone won't work. Go talk to people over the cost of living, and how taxation is a major topic on the minds of most working-class Germans. Finding affordable housing for a family of four or five? That's a joke.
10. Where did the weapon come from?
No one can say that the guy had a license. So far, I would offer the opinion that he simply found someone on the black market to sell him the weapon and shells. Maybe this will be corrected today.
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