Six people were killed and several others injured after a gunman opened fire at a family support centre in northern Germany, with authorities saying the attack was linked to a child custody dispute.
The shooting took place at a mothers’ and children’s centre in the city of Stade, near Hamburg, where the victims—four women and two men—were all employees of the facility.
Police said the suspect’s three-month-old daughter and the child’s mother were inside the building at the time of the attack but escaped unharmed.
Three people, including the suspected gunman, have since been taken into custody, and authorities said there is no ongoing threat to the public.
Lower Saxony Interior Minister Daniela Behrens described the shooting as a cold-blooded act of violence driven by personal and family-related motives, adding that investigators had found no evidence of political or economic motivations.
Emergency services were alerted shortly after 12.10pm local time when reports of gunfire emerged at the youth welfare facility on Dankerstrasse.
Police said five victims died at the scene, while a sixth later succumbed to injuries in hospital. All of those killed were adults.
Investigators identified the suspected gunman as a 45-year-old German-born man of Turkish nationality who lives in Hanover.
According to Lueneburg Police Chief Kathrin Schuol, the suspect had been scheduled to attend a meeting at the centre on Monday involving several of the victims to discuss custody arrangements for his infant daughter.
Schuol said the man was previously known to police in connection with alleged threats but had not been regarded as a particularly violent individual. She also confirmed that he did not hold a firearms licence.
Following the shooting, the suspect fled in a vehicle driven by a woman.
German media reported that police intercepted the vehicle at a nearby roadblock after a pursuit. Footage published by local outlets showed armed officers ordering the occupants out of a Mercedes with a damaged tyre before arresting them.
A witness told local media that police repeatedly ordered the pair to stop before firing at the vehicle during the operation.
Large numbers of police officers, forensic investigators and emergency personnel were deployed to the area as investigations continued.
As a precaution, children attending a nearby daycare centre and primary school were later collected by their parents.
Stade, located about 30 kilometres west of Hamburg, has a population of around 50,000 people.
