Six people have been shot dead at a youth welfare facility in the northern German city of Stade, near Hamburg, in what police described as a likely "family tragedy" rooted in a custody dispute. The victims — four women and two men — were all adult staff members at the centre, which provides accommodation and support for mothers and children in difficult social circumstances. A number of other people were wounded, with at least one additional person hospitalised in stable condition. The three-month-old baby at the centre of the custody dispute and her mother were present during the attack but were unharmed.
The suspected gunman, a 45-year-old Turkish national born in Germany and living in the city of Hanover, had been invited to the facility on Monday for a scheduled meeting with staff to discuss the future of his infant daughter, who had been placed there by child welfare authorities. Police say he opened fire on those present during or around that appointment. After the shooting, he fled by car with at least one other person, but was stopped by officers who fired on the vehicle, blowing out a tyre. Video footage showed police arresting two people at gunpoint on a nearby country road. In total, three people were detained: the suspected shooter, a 34-year-old woman identified as the child's mother, and a 55-year-old woman who was in the getaway car. All three are being questioned about their roles.
Lower Saxony's Interior Minister Daniela Behrens described the attack as "an act of violence carried out in an extremely cold-blooded manner, with no political or economic motives." Police confirmed the suspect was previously known to them in connection with threats but had not been regarded as particularly dangerous, and did not hold a firearms licence. Authorities said they could not yet account for how he obtained the weapon. Dutch public broadcasters reported, citing sources, that the suspect may have links to the Miri clan, a criminal network known in Germany for involvement in drug, weapons and human trafficking — though police stated at a press conference that they were not aware of any confirmed connection to organised crime.
The shooting triggered a large-scale police operation that shut down much of Stade's city centre, a town of around 50,000 people on the Elbe river. The facility is located close to a daycare centre and a primary school; local officials confirmed that no children or staff at those sites were harmed. Police also issued warnings against the spread of misinformation on social media and messaging apps, where unverified accounts of the incident circulated rapidly in the hours after the attack. Germany's strict gun laws — which include mandatory psychiatric evaluations for applicants under 25 — mean mass shootings are relatively uncommon, though Monday's attack ranks among the deadliest in the country in recent years.