Singer Kim Jin-pyo has shared a first-hand account of being caught in a deadly shooting at a Hamburg hotel, revealing that the gunfire erupted in the room next to his.
According to Sports Chosun, Kim posted about the incident on his social media on November 10, along with photos of police and paramedics outside the hotel. He had been preparing to check out when the shooting began.
“A police officer stood in front of the elevator, put a finger to his lips to tell me to be quiet, and gestured for me to go back into my room,” Kim wrote. He said he fumbled for his key card and saw from the window that the hotel appeared sealed off.
Still fearing the gunman might enter, Kim hid in the bathroom. “I was afraid he might come into my room, so I evacuated to the bathroom,” he wrote. “The room was still under control, and no one was leaving the building.”
“I heard four gunshots. The sound was so close. I ran into the bathroom like crazy and locked the door,” he recalled. He said he could feel the adrenaline pumping.
Only later did Kim realize how close he had come to the center of the incident. “The drone took a position in front of me and kept filming only the room next to mine,” he wrote. “That’s when I realized — ah, it was the room next to mine.”
The shooting took place on November 10 in Hamburg’s HafenCity district, leaving two people injured and three dead, according to German public broadcaster Tagesschau. A 68-year-old man opened fire, injuring two people; police later found the suspect dead in a hotel room in the Elbphilharmonie building and believe he took his own life. Police also found the bodies of his wife and father-in-law at his home, and believe he killed them before traveling to Hamburg.
Kim said he was able to leave for the airport safely once the lockdown was lifted. “Today’s incident was so shocking that I’m honestly still a little worked up, and it feels like I might have some trauma,” he wrote.
Kim debuted in 1995 with the duo Panic and has since worked as a solo singer and television personality, as well as a racing driver and former host of the XTM show “Top Gear Korea.”
No official statement was available from Kim’s agency regarding the incident.
