6 killed in shooting at Germany youth center, police say; suspect arrested

Six people were killed in a shooting Monday at a youth welfare facility in the northern German town of Stade, police said. A suspect was arrested, while another two people were subject to “police measures” on suspicion of involvement, according to police. They didn’t elaborate.

Five people, including four women and one man, died at the scene of the shooting, police said. A sixth, also an adult, died later at a hospital.

Several people were wounded, some seriously, the German news agency dpa reported, citing police. But the report did not specify the number of people injured or share information about their identities.

Police said the shooting took place in the welfare facility on Dankersstrasse, a street south of Stade’s town center. The facility includes temporary accommodation for pregnant women or young mothers with children.

There was no ongoing danger to the public, police said. There was no immediate word on a possible motive for the shooting.

“The police are investigating the motive and the exact course of events under high pressure,” Daniela Behrens, interior minister for the Lower Saxony region, told a news conference, adding that it was an extremely violent crime in cold blood, “apparently in a custody dispute.” 

Police previously said two suspects were arrested, and one was believed to have fired the shots. They added that investigators were working to establish the background to the incident.

Video footage after the shooting showed a large police presence, along with other emergency service personnel and several ambulances on a residential street. Vitali Mertens, who lives across the street from the scene, told The Associated Press that he heard gunshots and “the whole area was cordoned off right away.”

Like most of Western Europe, Germany has relatively strict laws on gun ownership, and mass shootings are rare but not unheard of. 

Stade has about 50,000 inhabitants and is located about 25 miles west of Hamburg.