Six people have been fatally shot at a centre for mothers and children by a male suspect who was in a custody dispute over his baby daughter, German police say.
The victims – four women and two men – were all staff members at the facility in the town of Stade near Hamburg. A number of other people were also wounded. The baby and her mother were in the office at the time but were not harmed, officials said.
Three people including the suspected shooter have been detained by police and officials said there was no further threat to the public.
German media reported that the facility housed women and children.
Shots were first reported at around 12:10 local time (10:10 GMT), according to local police, which later confirmed “homicides involving multiple victims” had occurred at a “youth welfare facility” on Dankerstrasse and told the public to avoid the area.
The women and one man were shot dead inside the facility, police said, and a sixth person later died of their injuries in hospital. All the victims were adults.
German TV quoted witnesses as saying police fired on a car in which two suspects were attempting to flee.
One eyewitness told Focus Online that police shouted “stop where you are” at the man and woman and then fired between 10 and 15 shots at the vehicle.
Footage published by Bild newspaper showed police at a roadblock on a nearby country road stopping a Mercedes with a blown out tyre.
Armed officers are seen in the clip telling the occupants to get out and detaining them as they lie face down in the road.
Large numbers of police and emergency personnel have been seen working in the area.
AFP news agency earlier quoted a police spokesperson as saying investigators believed it was “not a case of femicide, nor does it involve a political background or anything of that nature. Rather it is an extended family tragedy”.
German broadcasters ZDF and RTL reported a city spokesperson had said children at a nearby daycare and a primary school were inside at the time of the shooting, and had since been collected by their parents.
The city in the state of Lower Saxony is located about 30km (19 miles) west of Hamburg, and has a population of about 50,000 people.
