Six people have been fatally shot at a centre for mothers and children in northern Germany by a suspect who police say was in a custody dispute over his baby daughter.
The attack unfolded at around 12:10 local time on Monday at a youth welfare facility on Dankerstrasse in Stade, a city of about 50,000 people near Hamburg. The victims – four women and two men – were all staff members. A number of other people were also wounded.
“Six staff shot dead at German mothers' centre; suspect arrested over custody dispute of baby daughter.”
The suspected gunman, a 45-year-old Turkish national born in Germany and living in Hanover, had an appointment at the centre to discuss custody of his three-month-old daughter, Lüneburg police chief Kathrin Schuol said. The baby and her 34-year-old mother were present but unharmed.
Schuol said the suspect was known to police “in relation to threats” but had not been considered “as a particularly violent individual”. He did not have a firearms licence.
After the shooting, the 45-year-old fled in a car driven by a woman. One eyewitness told Focus Online that police shouted “stop where you are” at the pair and then fired repeatedly at the vehicle. Footage published by Bild showed armed officers detaining two people at a roadblock on a country road, stopping a Mercedes with a blown-out tyre.
The suspect and the woman are both in custody. Officials said there was no further threat to the public.
Lower Saxony’s interior minister, Daniela Behrens, called the attack “an act of violence carried out in an extremely cold-blooded manner, with no political or economic motives”. Three people have been detained in total, including the alleged gunman.
Four of the victims died inside the facility, police said. A sixth person later succumbed to their injuries in hospital. All were adults.
Children from a nearby daycare and primary school were collected by their parents after the shooting. The centre, described as helping new and expectant mothers escape domestic abuse, has been cordoned off.
The motives of the gunman and the role of the second suspect remain under investigation, police said.