Six dead after shooting in northern Germany, police say

A shooting at a youth welfare facility in northern Germany on Mondayleft six people dead in what officials believe may have stemmed from a custody dispute.

The main suspect has been arrested.

Five people – four women and one man – died at the scene of the shooting in Stade, police said. A sixth, also an adult, died later at a hospital. All six were employees of the youth center or its affiliates, they said.

“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 said the shooting took place near a youth facility, prompting a major police operation on Dankersstrasse, south of the town centre.

The shooting took place near a youth facility in Stade, northern Germany, police say / Credit: APTN

Posting on social media platform X, Lüneburg Police said “an operation is currently taking place in Stade” and that members of the public should avoid the area.

Stade is a town located around 40 kilometers west of Hamburg with a population of around 50,000 people.

An investigation is ongoing. Police say there is “no danger to the public.”