Six people were killed in a shooting at a youth welfare facility in the northern German town of Stade on Monday, police said — a higher toll than the five reported when the attack first emerged, and one police have characterized as a "family tragedy," according to France 24.
What happened
The shooting took place at a centre in Stade — a town in Lower Saxony, west of Hamburg — that provides accommodation and support for pregnant women and young mothers with their children, as Al Jazeera reported. Five people died at the scene and a sixth later in hospital. Crucially, police said all of those killed were employees of the facility — staff, rather than the mothers or children in its care.
The suspect and a custody dispute
Police indicated the suspected motive lay in a custody battle. A man who had an appointment that day to discuss arrangements for his three-month-old daughter is believed to have carried out the attack, as PBS reported. The child and her mother were present at the facility but were not hurt. Two people were arrested and a third detained in connection with the shooting, though authorities did not detail their roles, and the investigation was continuing. The identities of the victims had not been released.
A rare and shocking attack
Mass shootings are uncommon in Germany, which has some of the strictest gun-control laws in the world, requiring licenses, demonstrated need and thorough background checks for firearm ownership. An attack that left six social-care workers dead — people whose job was to help vulnerable families — has shaken the country, and is likely to renew debate about gun licensing and about the dangers that can flare in bitter custody disputes.
As with any fast-moving event, the early account remained incomplete on Monday evening, with key questions — about exactly how the attack unfolded and how the weapon was obtained — still to be answered. What was clear was the scale of the loss at a place meant to be a refuge. This is a developing story.
